Cross Fire
by Native Gunz 13
Summary: When loss hits Delores Fortuna where it hurts most, she must seek revenge on those who wronged her. To do this she will once again involve herself in the world of street gangs, mobsters, dealers, pimps, Triads, and of course the biggest gang in town, the police. Being a chola aint easy. Rated M for violence, language, drug use, possible other adult content & racial tensions
1. Meet Delores Fortuna

_Hey people nobody was paying much mind to La Vida Loca so I decided to just exnay on that shit and start a new one. I'm gonna do a story with two protagonists, one male, one female. Two perspectives. Their stories will intertwine but in the start they will have their own individual stories. hope you all get into this, I'll do one chapter for one protagonist and one for the next you know? Kind of like a split up story._

_So here goes, enjoy!_

* * *

_Douglass Park, Los Santos, San Andreas_

_ April 25th 2009._

_Return To Sender_

She had always hated funerals but this one she hated the most. She was dressed all in black and had put on some sunglasses to cover up her tears. She was pretty and had tan skin, and long dark hair and big luscious pink lips. She was often told she would be more pretty if she wasn't always scowling. Her grief was apparent. Her name was Delores friends were with her, hugging and comforting her. Her boyfriend and their ten month old daughter had been killed in a drive-by shooting. They were all from the Barrio Eighteenth Street Vagos. She had never been a serious gang banger she had been jumped into the hood and she had been in a lot of fights with girls from other cliques.

She had fought guys too and had did a number on them but she had never killed anybody. Not once. Her man, Carlos Rosa had been a notorious banger however. He had been in constant shootouts with other barrios, other hoods, other gangs and he had a lot of enemies but when their son had been born they decided to try to turn their lives around. Delores had to go to a Family Reunion. He of course had to come too but he had gone to pick up their son.

When that had happened, a rival gang, their mortal enemies, one who was affiliated with the Southside Varrio Aztecas but had become far greater enemies to to the Vagos, the Truchas, an El Salvadorian gang from Douglass Park which was formerly known as Glen Park, had shot them in their car. Carlos had hoped to leave the gang life and get a job in construction but the Truchas hadn't cared about what his intentions were.

They had opened fire on the car about fifteen times, four rounds had got Carlos in the side and twice in the head and one time in the left side of the chest. Two rounds had also struck the child. Though the Vagos had a lot of power in the drug trade in the 90's, their influence had diminished greatly in the new millennium following the Vagos rivalry with the Truchas and the Truchas being allied with their oldest enemies, the Aztecas. This as well as the Southside Aztecas spreading out and taking their neighborhoods from the Vagos and finally getting involved in the narcotics trade.

The Aztecas were now just on of many barrios repping the Southside. They had been absorbed into a bigger gang in Los Santos known as the Southside Matones but they still got to keep the name they had always been known as but now they had to pay tribute to the bosses in prison. Even though most of the Mexican barrios that had beef with the vagos had called themselves Aztecas in the 90's and there had always been individual barrios that hated the vagos, now only the Aztecas from El Corona still went by that name. Every other Azteca hood had embraced Matones as their gang name.

Delores was young, only twenty years old and she had lost her man and her child to these cold streets. She had never killed anybody before but she was sure as hell gonna kill now. Delores finally stood up from the freshly dug graves and the head stones. Her homie, Piernas, a bald Latino man in his mid twenties, with a mustache and a goatee, wearing a black tuxedo and black slacks as well as a fedora and sunglasses, also dressed for the funeral.

"We're gonna get these putos back, Esa. Don't you worry." He assured her. Delores asked him, "When?" Her little brother, Pablo Fortuna, a baby faced eighteen year old who had grown up too fast told her, "As soon as we get the low down n where they're at. I'm coming with you sis."

She shook her head, looking at her little brother who was dressed in street clothing. He wore black dickies, and a white T shirt with a black windbreaker over it. He wore a yellow baseball cap that he had to the back and a black bandanna underneath, covering his crew cut hairstyle.

"No fucking way." Delores told him. "There's no way you're coming with us for this shit. I aint losing my little brother to this bullshit too."

Pablo stepped up defiantly. "I'm already in it, sis! That was my homeboy and my little nephew those maricons killed. Chale Hermana they're all gonna pay. I already got jumped in, Del."

She angrily lashed out, slapping him. "What would mami say? You know she doesn't want you involved with this shit!" Pablo glared at his older sister and even though he towered over her, he did not hit her back. Out of either fear or respect. Or both. "Don't be a hypocrite. You're down with this shit and I am too. That's all there is too it. I aint going to college just so I can act talk and live like a gringo. Not me."

He started to walk away but he said, "Mira, she's dead. Mama wouldn't say anything." His back was to her. "And I'm tired of talking about her, all right?"

Later that day, they were all chilling at the Fortunas residence. Peirnas was drinking as usual, and a couple of them were smoking spliffs out on the porch. Just then, a skinny Latino man, dressed in a dirty sweater that had once been white but was now dull gray, and dirty stonewashed jeans approached them. He was clearly a crack head.

Peirnas stood up and told him, "Fuck off, right now. We're not in the mood all right? If you're looking for some shit, come by later to my flat and I'll get what you need but right now we're grieving."

The junkie told him, "No se, I aint here for that. I'm just here to tell you guys something. To tell Delores Fortuna a little message." Delores also stood up, suspiscious about what the man was up to. "What do you want?" She demanded.

He looked at her, his pupils the size of stones. _He must have been smoking crack._ Thought Delores. "The Truchas had a message for you. Just thought you should know. What happened to your boyfriend was a tragic. Wouldn't want a repeat of that. Just letting you know, you move on their barrio, you and everybody you care about will die too."

Piernas stood up, removing a Glock 19 from his jacket and cocked it. "The fuck did you say? I should flatten your cap right here, Ese! This is our neighborhood, pinche cabron!"

The junkie raised his hands looking in fear."Hold on, man! Nobody shoots the messenger homes! That's all I am! The messenger!" Delores told Piernas, "Put it away, chico. I can handle this."

Delores walked up to the junkie and told him, "Well we got a message for you to go back to them with." Delores said and she sucker punched him, hitting him square in the jaw. A lot of people under estimated her because she was a petite woman, and about five foot nine, but she packed a hell of a punch. She had taken boxing in high school even and had gotten pretty good at it.

She hit him with another blow, a hard left to the nose. He stumbled backwards,his nose bleeding but swung back and hit her in the cheek. She hit him again, in the jaw and then got him in the stomach with a round house kick. He doubled over and she kicked him in the face. The junkie quickly bounced back and punched her in the stomach, Delores grunted and he did it again. He began swinging wildly at her, hitting her in the face and slipped on the grass on the lawn and fell over. "Fuck that, homes, let's get him." Said a Vagos gang member standing up.

Piernas stopped him saying, "Just wait, hermano. Watch and learn." Delores got to her feet and hit him with a one two combination to the side of the head. Then she drove her knee into his groin and he doubled over again. She grabbed him by the face and drove her knee into his already bloody nose and slammed his face into it.

She heard the sound of cartilage cracking and saw she had broken his she began to knee him in the stomach. Finally she let him fall on the lawn but she began kicking him in the side, in the rib cage and in the back of the head. A couple of Vagos grabbed Delores and held her back saying, "That's enough, chica! You're gonna kill him! He's just a clucker. Besides, let the message get home to them." Said a gang member named Joker, a wiry Hispanic wearing a white tank top, black jeans, and a skull cap.

The drug addict weakly got to his feet and began to limp away down the street and even knocked over a trash can. Piernas chucked a beer bottle at him and it shattered next to him on the sidewalk. "Get your ass outta here, punk!"

Joker looked at Piernas and nodded. "Yep. Home girl is down to smash on these fuckers."

Delores was breathing hard with anger and adrenaline but she said with gritted teeth, "All of them if that's what it takes. If Carlos and my mijo didn't deserve to live neither do they."

They were all silent now but the silence said more than words could. She had never killed anybody before but she sure as hell was going to kill somebody now...

* * *

_That's all for the first chapter! So here goes, my first GTA story with a female protagonist! There will be a male protagonist and as I said their stories will intertwine but for the most part not for a while. I've seen the difficulty of using more than one protagonist in a story so I decided to reserve chapters for protagonists and I'll label said chapter with which protagonist it will be about. The next chapter will be the guy, then after that, the girl again and so on and so on. I always felt there weren't enough strong female characters in the GTA games and I wondered why there aren't female gang pedestrians that hang out just like the guys , I mean Saints Row does and since they are GTA 's rival, that is one advantage they do have!_

_Also__ just like my story Wild West, this will feature more detailed neighborhoods, streets, and gangs c but the difference is I aint entirely writing out the GTA III era gangs, events and stories. I think in this one, I will combine the two, both GTA III era and IV era. The Vagos, is based on the 18th street gang which is essentially the only Hispanic gang in L.A. that's not completely mixed up in the race war between Black & Brown. and adopting the Surenos banner. Sureno is Spanish for southerner & it is true 18th street is a Southern California gang so in that sense they are south siders but they are not on good terms with most Surenos._

_Even Cesar's neighborhood, El Corona & the Aztecas will be included and many Sureno gangs do have individual names but are still under the Sureno banner. According to Afro Spirit El Corona is based on an area called El Sereno and Little Mexico the nearby hood occupied by the Aztecas, is based on Olvera Street._

_As for Glen Park, I decided to rename it Douglass Park since Glen Park was based on the real life MacArthur Park, a war zone between Eighteenth Street (Vagos) and MS-13 (Truchas.) and MacArthur Park was named after Douglass MacArthur. Also, since I'm just considering Litle Mexico & El Corona as individual barrios in Los Santos, the Matones will stand in as the gang the Surenos, GTA replica and I believe I can make them more like the actual gang. I will name other gangs and neighborhoods in future chapters._

_Also i know starts of a story are anti climactic but that's as far as shooting goes, I still thought a good fist fight was in order._

_Also, the actress who would visually inspire Delores is Michelle Rodriguez because she is smoking hot I mean really! But she's also tough as hell and I would rather see her play a thug than a pig and she's the Latina actress I could best see doing that. As for Joker I would say he would be visually inspired by Jacob Vargas, most notably, in the Next Friday movie._

_So that's the start, hope you lied it! If you got constructive criticism go easy not harsh :P_

_Hope you enjoyed the start stay tuned!_

_Native Gunz_


	2. Working Up The Food Chain

_Hey l its been a minute i know i just haven't had the time and my computer is bad. The connection is bad and as for the lab top well the cord is all fucked up so i can't even charge it and its pretty much dead so that was my backup computer so now I'm pretty much at the seattle public library typing this shit but still I am gonna update regardless of the situation i mean i used to type online stories all the time from the library and i didn't even have a computer until recently so its no biggie. In the 20 years I have been alive, I only had a cmputer of my own for maybe two of them. So with that said, here goes chapter three. Hope you get a kick outta it. remember in this I am having the Vagos represent 18th street as i believe Rock Starmeant it that way all though their colors confused some into thinking they were Latin Kings but they're not LK's aren't from Cali. _

_Besides one of the trademark colors of 18th street besides Blue is actually black but since blue is already a majr gang color in this I will be making it brown and black instead for the most part. And of course the High Rollers formerly the GSF are supposed to be the Crips and the Ballas the Bloods though I disagree wit Zane and Afro I respect the view point and it is just as valid as the idea of the Ballas being the Crips and not the othe r way round but its honestly a two way street it was confusing what can I say? _

_I'm just playing devils advocate i guess. Another way I am playing devils advocate is that in Delores's chapter of the story, like Afro portrayed the black point of view of the racial; gang wars in L.A I am gonna portray the Latino side. So I don't share all these views or racial prejudices all though with some of it i can see where the Ese's are coming from as i have felt it on my end too. All in all I am just trying portray it all accurately with all the abusive language, no censoring._

_ All right I'll shut up now. Enjoy!_

* * *

_Catch You On The Rebound_

Piernas and Pablo Fortuna sat on the porch waiting for their ride. They would be going on a mission soon. "I'm telling you, Pablito, these fucking mayates, we used to be down with them! Back in the 90's we had an alliance with the Ballas but they ripped us off in 99' and its been on ever since! Those putas got enemies all over the city but they still think they're hardcore and can do what they want."

Pablo nodded at what the older homie was saying. "I know, ese! I didn't even have a problem with them but those fools keep on trying to jump me! What's the deal with black guys starting shit with people for no reason just cause they're another color? Then got the nerve to bitch about how they get discriminated against? And I tried heading up with one of them when they started calling me names but they never fight one on one."

Piernas nodded. "Si mon, they're fucking bitches, ese. But they're fucking with real g's. They got that gang bang shit from us. Mexicanos were the first people to bang in this city. See the white boys? They got no reason to hate on Mayates but us, carnal? Shit they've been fucking with us forever! They earned our hatred homes. They forget Los Santos used to be ours! We were the first to wear plaid button ups and they're just copying off us and cause they had the rappers blowing up they made it look like they came up with it. Chale!"

Pablo looked toward the seemingly busy street of Douglass Park and shook his head. "Damn, man what's taking them so long? They're ten minutes late! Spider better not be seeing his girl again! I need to earn my stripes!"

Piernas laughed passing over the joint he was smoking. "Here, get a hit of this shit, dawg. Its pure San Andreas kush. Take a big hit. Inhale," Pablo hesitated at first but Piernas urged him. "Come on, ese you'll live! This aint a drug its a plant. Just a really really good plant!" He did take a hit and he inhaled deep into his lungs watching the fire on the J burn beneath his eyes. Finally he coughed blowing out smoke and Piernas laughed. "Horale, virgin lungs! Don't worry it'll get better you get used to it. This is good medicine on days if you're pissed off or stressed. Just lay back and smoke. Can't believe your sister never smoked with you before! Shit, what am i saying Delores would kick your ass!"

Pablo finished coughing and took the joint back from Piernas after he had taken a hit still chuckling. "Mi hermana aint gonna do shit, homie. I'm a grown fucking man. If I wanna smoke some bud I will. She aint my mama."

They finished off the joint and finally their ride arrived and Spider, a short but Muscular Mexican American with a short hair cut that he often wore gel in, pulled up in a gray Moonbeam. "Pinche cabron! That fool jacked a van? Ah well it may not be a good car but its stil a bucket. Just what we need for a little bang bang, right?" Piernas said.

"Horale, pendejos get in the car! Pablito you ready to do this, homie?" Spider asked.

Pablo, though he felt nervous, said, "Fuck yeah I'm ready! Let's go!"

Piernas laughed and said, "Horale macho man. Let's go," He gave him a black bandanna to tie around his face as well as a brown one to get the bottom half. "We're gonna be hitting up the Ballas from the Baldwin Aldea Projects. They're the ones that jacked us and they still like to make moves on our barrios all over L.S. but we're gonna teach em what happens when you fuck with real gangstas. All the other Ballas hoods took their cue to start fucking with the Vagos. So any understanding we had in the past, any business relationships we had to make feria, together, that's over, comprende?"

Pablo nodded. Spider then said, "All right, perro get in the fucking van then! Let's go take care of business!"

Delores was walking home with groceries, not in a good mood when she saw Pablo getting into a van with Piernas and Spider up the street. Though she was a Vago for life she did not want him down with that lifestyle. She had tried to leave it but her man and her baby had died. Now she hd an obligation as a chola and as a mother to get the guys that did it. For her, the life was given but for Pablo he was choosing it and now he was making the wrong choice. "Pablo! What are you doing? You'd better not be doing what I think you are!" She shouted trying to get to the van without dropping the groceries.

Pablo scowled saying, "Stop telling me what to do, sis! You don't get to tell me I can't bang when you're out there picking fights with base heads! These are mi familia, girl I'm going!"

She looked at Piernas yelling, "Idiota, what are you doing? You know I don't want him getting mixed up in this shit! He needs to go to college, be better than me and do something with his life!"

Piernas just retorted, "Delly, chill out, girl let the little homie get down! Hey, Spider, punch it, man! Let's go ride on these black motherfuckers."

They pulled away and headed down and Delores yelled, "Pablo! Get the fuck back here! IDIOTA!"

She angrily put her groceries away in the house and came back outside. A gang member who was the shot caller of their barrio, Smiley, came out of the house. "Delores, what's with all the yelling, chica? Got my dogs going crazy." She spotted the gang leader who in a way was like an older brother to her. He was Latino just like her and he spoke with a bit of an accent and he had a handle bar mustache and thick black hair. Aside from the mustache he looked like your stereotypical Aztec warrior. He had a bit of a smirk on his face which was a rare thing for him.

She hugged him and he said, "Mira, I didn't want to miss the funeral, I just was caught up in court. You know I'm gonna miss the homeboy too." She nodded knowing full well what he said was true. "So what's all the noise about?"

She sighed. "Fucking Piernas, man! I told him I didn't want Pablo getting involved with the streets but he just went and took him on a mission anyway! That fool acts like he's hearing what I'm saying but then he goes and does the opposite! Pinche pendejo!"

Smiley put an arm around her and told her, Look, I'll talk to him and I'll even talk to your brother but at the end of the day, its really Pablo's choice. I know you're his older sister and you don't want to hear that but I can't make him quit anymore than you can. Its hard surviving out here and we gotta stick together. Plus what if he wants revenge on those Trucha putos just as much as you do?"

Delores still didn't like it. "No, that's my man and my baby that got taken. I have to do that alone. Even if that was his excuse that doesn't explain why he's about to go out there and do a drive by on some unsuspecting Ballas just cause Piernas told him to!"

Smiley sighed and said, "Mira, Del you gotta remember you did the same shit he's doing now. Hell I was younger than both of you when I got put onto 18th street Vagos. We do what we gotta do to survive out here and we all got our ways. I promise to talk to him but if I can't convince him, then the best I can do is promise you I'll look after the little homie and always try to keep him safe even in danger,. Deal?"

Delores smiled, looking at the shot caller with respect and admiration knowing that the man deserved his position as their OG. "Si. Gracias compadre. I just worry for him. Me, I was given this life. He's dumb enough to actually choose it when he had another option! I just lost so much already. I don't wanna lose my little brother too."

Smiley assured her, "That won't happen. Besides, you'll always have the barrio at your back. We look after our own. Other hoods think they can fuck with us but w're international and they aint. We're in most of the states in this country plus in El Salvador and other Latino countries. Shit Vagos 18 wasn't even El Salvadorian originally! But a Latino is a Latino and a soldier is a soldier. We beef with these Trucha jotos but they aint about shit."

Meanwhile, a beat up brown Greenwood rode North West of downtown. The same drug addict who had been beaten up by the female banger from Douglass Park was now driving his beat up old bucket with a car load of companions with him. One, was a meth addict, a Caucasian male who was a homeless man from downtown L.S where there were a lot of people like himself, another passenger was a slim Asian male, also a drug addict of Filipino descent. He, unlike the other who had a preference for meth, was not particular on any specific drug, though he used heroin more than any other, he had a taste for speed as well.

The last of them was a member of the Mara Truchas, he was coming along to make sure that the junkie driving, would do what he was supposed to in order to fulfill his end of the bargain. He had been sent to warn her what would happen if she moved on their set. She hadn't attacked any Truchas since the death of her baby's daddy and her unborn child. In fact she had been ready to set her guns down.

The Trucha gang member told the driver, "Paco what you gotta understand, is that you got your ass kicked by a girl. If you were from our set you'd be laughed out of the barrio. But i know above all you're a clucker. You love that caine. So if you and your compadres rub her out,. we'll just give you a whole kilo of the shit for you and your two amigos. Just be sure to do it in moderation because that's pure Nicaraguan."

The meth head laughed at him saying, "I still can't believe you let a chick kick your ass, dude that's hilarious. Plus the way that you're gonna be getting her back is by shooting her. Its not like you'll be taking her for round two. Guess not everybody from East Los is hardcore like you act."

The junkie, Paco's face still hurt from his encounter with Delores Fortuna. "Shut the fuck up, gringo! You're in our neighborhood now. I'd watch your mouth if I was you. If you wanna make it back to skid row to pan handle again, you'd better zip it."

The meth head laughed at him saying, "What are ya gonna do, tough guy? Kick my ass? The last time you tried that it didn't go so well for you. If you couldn't handle a skirt then you really shouldn't try and fight me, I was in Vietnam."

Paco reached in the glove box and pointed a .22 revolver at him and said, "Horale, but I can shoot you right now and toss you out in the streets let the buzzards eat you. I'm telling you, white boy, keep your mouth shut. You think you're hard then help me do this. That pinche hood rat aint gonna be by herself. Rivera will give you two vatos a strap once we to Douglass Park."

Rivera, the Trucha gang member, was a bald Hispanic man with a goatee and he wore a blue and white Swingers jersey. He had a tattoo that said 13 on his left forearm and on his right, it said **la sangre en la sangre fuera**.

He also had two tattoos one on each eye lid. On the left it said M for Mara and on the right, a T for Trucha. "If you can show me you aint no bitch and you got some cojones, we might just think abut putting you onto the hood, vato. You just gotta get off that blow though if you want in. Junkies are good for business but we can't have one on our team. The choice is yours. Either way, whether you want in or not, if you do this you win. If you don't want to join our clique, at the very least you got enough powder to last you guys a while."

The Filipino drug addict scowled at the meth head. "Serving in Nam' doesn't make you tough either, you fucking baby killer." The meth head started to reply but was cut off by Rivera.

"Shut up! We're here! Paco, which one is she?" They observed the street and saw a short but curvy woman sitting on a porch with a muscular gang banger. Paco pointed her out. "That's her. I think that vato with her is their jefe."

Rivera looked and said, "Yeah you're right, dawg. All right let's get these fools," He gave Paco another .22 pistol similar to the one he already had. "Another deuce deuce? We aint taking on Wyatt Earp, man!"

Paco cursed at him. "Maricon! You get what you get,. Quit whining. Pull the car up to them." He produced a .380 Handgun for the drug addict in the back seat plus the meth head, he gave him a .44 Magnum. For himself, he had a Semi automatic Glock 40.

Smiley and Delores continued their conversation in Spanish but then Smiley stood up noticing the beat up car slowly creeping up. In the suburbs, or any rich neighborhood, residents would be scared of a car flying down the street, driving fast and reckless. But in the barrio, that was more of a relief than a car driving slow. Because a car driving slow usually meant one thing. What Smikey said next was correct. "Del, get down, Hermana its a drive by!" He removed his own Glock 40 and he fired just as the carload of gang members began opening fire. Smiley took a bullet in the left arm as he fired taking cover near the side of his porch. The bullet was from the .22 but he still did not let it faze him. They were shooting at Delores and he saw two bullets hit her, one in the left shoulder, the other grazing her in the right thigh. Another bullet barely missed her head.

"What's up now? Fucking chavalas! You better run,puto!" Yelled the junkie from the driver seat. Smiley fired back, letting off two rounds, which hit the driver door and let off another five and saw it go to the back windshield but it also hit the Asian junkie in the car as he saw blood. The car pulled up the street, the Trucha gangster still unloading at them with his semi automatic. They busted a U turn in the middle and parked getting out. The wounded drug addict was still able bodied and he let off eight shots with his .380 but was clearly not experienced with guns and was only there to support the one thing he was good at. Doing blow. A round from his gun struck a mailman from Honduras in the left temple.

Smiley remembered the spare gun he had tucked in the back of his pants. He tossed it to Delores and she readied it , an H&K VP70. She took aim at the drug addict with the .380, who had already taken the life of an innocent bystander because he didn't know how to shoot. "¡El hijo de una perra!" She screamed firing and let off three rounds, hitting the man in the left thigh with two of them and a third round hit him in the right knee cap. He went down and she finished him off with two rounds in the jaw line the bullets blasting into his chin exposing his bone.

Next, the meth addict, toting a .44 fired upon her and she found cover behind the mailman's truck as he fired twice shattering a window and hitting the already dead mailman again, this time, the bullet blew half his face off as it shattered more of the window. "Fuck Jack Howitzer, baby I'm the real deal!" He screamed. Delores fired from the side, letting six shots off. Four of them hit him in the stomach and he fell but within moments was getting back up. Delores attempted to finis him but the junkie she had beaten up fired at her with the remaining bullets in his pistol forcing her back to cover.

"You shouldn't have fucked with me, stupid bitch!" He yelled. "You're fucking screwed!" He emptied the last of the .22 but he pulled out the other one cocked it and waited for her to poke her head back out. She fired two shots blindly and one of them missed while the other hit the junkie, Paco in the stomach. He cried out in pain. Delores fired, poking her head out just enough to see where he was and she fired the last remaining bullets wildly and hit him as well as the meth addict next to him. The last of the three, a gang member named Rivera who actually lived only a block away, was chasing a duo of Vagos that he had recognized and began firing upon them. One managed to get away but the other ended up getting shot five times in the back. He noticed Delores and Smiley advancing toward him taking cover behind the car they had arrived in and started trying to shoot Delores. Smiley popped up and let off three rounds from his gun before reloading and the Trucha fell int the street with two rounds in his chest, the baseball jersey stained with dark red blood.

The gun she had been given actually had one in the chamber. She chambered the round and aimed at the junkie who laid on his side, two bullets in his shin, one in the right side of his chest, and the one she had put in his stomach. he was breathing hard and he still had his gun near him. "You fucking idiot! You just lost your life over some machismo bullshit! All for these punks? You just killed a bystander with your idiot friends."

The wounded drug addict spat, "Fuck you, puta! You emasculated me! Nobody does that and lives to tell about it! Not you, and not my uncle!" He raised the .22 but she fired first putting the last round between his eyes and watched his brains leak from the wound as he laid lifeless and his pistol fell useless at his side. The met head who had the .44 had been killed by Delores's blind fire as well. _Talk about luck. _ She thought as she saw that he had taken an extra round in the right lung. _He must have been high on speed to have been able to stand up after being shot... _she realized.

Smiley approached Rivera, reloading, as the gang member was not dead but simply wounded. He kicked the gun away and then kicked him in the side. "Who sent you, putos out here, huh? Who told you to come into our neighborhood? You must have promised that base head something. I know how it works, homes. You were the witness. Who sent you, bitch?"

Rivera just spat, "Go to hell, Pinche Vagos buster! I aint telling you anything!" Smiley grabbed him by the collar and threw him against his own car and said, "Is that right?" He pistol whipped him, once, twice, and the man was bleeding from his forehead. He gritted his teeth. "You punks killed my homeboy and a child. That aint right," He screamed to some Vagos who had come outside "Oye, muchachos! We got a walking talking bleeding Trucha chavala here! Let's see if we can make him talk!"

He let the gang member slide off the car onto the ground. The gang member weakly stood up reaching down the back of his baggy black pants. Three gang members rushed over to him and one of the, a man wearing a yellow jersey and a black bandanna, did not see the weapon he pulled out until it was too late. With a swift hack, he took the gang members left hand with the machete. The man screamed to the high heavens and fell clutching his bleeding stump in the street. Rivera chased the other two who backed away as e wildly swung at them. Smiley fired two shots hitting him in the stomach. The man fell to his knees and Smiley took his own machete and swung it, slashing his throat open making him into a human pez dispenser. The Trucha fell into the street letting out a croaking death rattle as the blood sprayed from his wound like a broken water main.

Smiley helped the wounded Vago up onto his feet. "Get the homie to the ER! Take my fucking car, just get it done!"

He tossed a gang member his car keys and Smiley removed his tank top and wrapped it around the man's hand and they carried him to the car and the gang members drove away speeding down the street to get their homie some help. He turned to Delores and muttered, "Fucking cowards. Oye ! Always watch out for them with those blades, girl or they'll chop you."

_Twenty Minutes Later..._

Meanwhile Pablo, Spider and Piernas were rolling into Baldwin Aldea, a community in South Los Santos. "Mira, these fucking putos out here, homes, we should come down here one day and fuck them all up, burn their whole hood to the ground! We could have made feria together and kept our alliance against the High Rollers, but those mayates are all the same, homes. They say they're with you but you're only useful to them as long as they need you. Then they fuck you over. Just like white boys. "

Pablo took a puff off the blunt that Spider had lit up as he listened to Piernas ramble on. "Back in the early nineties, Carnal? My older brother told me about that shit! We lived like kings after the Ballas took Ganton from their enemies and we took the Aztecas hood. Things were sweet! But after the riots, as soon as times got too tough for them they broke down like little bitches and attacked their neighbors," Piernas continued as Spider drove them to where they needed to be.

Pablo coughed blowing the smoke out in a coughing fit. When he finally got control, his eyes were red. "why do you hate them that much, man? Sounds to me like you're living in the past, homes. Worry about the future, Ese."

Piernas laughed at that. "Horale, what do you know, Pablito? You're just a young buck. You weren't around for the days when we were cool with them. That's betrayal, understand? A traitor is the lowest thing you can ever be on these streets apart from being a snitch. They started it, now we're gonna finish it. Even now they're still hitting us its been a never ending battle, and they're sill fucking with us so it aint a ting of the past its now!"

Spider nodded after taking a hit off the blunt. "Si mon, Gabriel. You're right," He said calling Piernas by his actual name. "It will never be over until we're all dead or they are. San Andreas has always been our home. Even their neighborhoods. You gotta understand, little brother, that it wasn't meant to be this way. We aint no pinche Matones. They're the ones who are on that race shit. They're the ones on that black vs brown shit they've been that way for a long time. I used to be cool with the tintos, homes used to play football with em, used to kick it at the crib back when I was in school. But they don't think about that when they robbed us. Even when we first started beefing wit these punks, we didn't want it to be against all of them. Just the Ballas. Plus he Rollers too. We already hated them but then they got smart, changed their gang name, and then they got in the coke trade too. But L.S. has changed, Pablo. Sometimes, things don't go the way you planned it. Now I can't trust any of them. Civilians, little kids,? Chale! They could be rolling with the Ballas or Rollers shooting at me, tommorow even if i was cool with them yesterday, ya know?"

Piernas took the blunt from him and hit it as if it were nothing, inhaled to his lungs and easily blew it out, shuddering as he did and then passing it to Pablo. "That's some good smoke, Spider...," He then turned back to Pablo saying, "You aint going soft on me, are you? Don't start feeling pity for these busters, man cause the second you do, they'll use that against you! They don't give a shit about you. To hem, you're an illegal alien in your own land! Now, I dunno, Ese. I wonder if you'll even be able to pull the trigger?"

Pablo nodded taking another puff. "Yeah, I'll do it! I just...don't see the point of judging an entire group by something a few people have done."

He began another coughing fit. Piernas's eyes were red and squinty. His pupils even looked odd. "I get it, man I used to think so too, homie. Look, just try and travel to other cities when you get enough money, all right? Go to Liberty City, Vice City, Carcer, Washington D.C. , fuck go anywhere in North or Sur America. See if they treat you any different. I been a lot of cities in this country, man. I aint just speaking outta mi culo. I know hat I'm talking about. If you wanna still kick it with any of them, just make sure they aint Ballin' or Rollin' comprende? Vagos, or don't bang at all!"

He handed him the shotgun and showed him how to use it. "Let me show you how to use it, mijo cause this aint like ants and a magnifying glass. Its the real deal. You may have whooped asses in High School but this is college! G college. Don't point a cuete at anyone you don't plan on blowing away, okay?" Pablo held it in his hands and felt how heavy it was. He felt strange, hyped up, almost. He was still coughing from the bud.

"Piernas," He began. "I feel fucking tired homes. I aint trying to punk out but i feel like crashing out."

Spider muttered in Spanish and said, "You already got us out here in a Ballas hood, man! Time to nut up or shut up! Piernas, your boy is acting like a little punk, man!"

Piernas shook his head. "It aint like that Spidey. He's cool. I shouldn't have gave him any bud on his first mission. Especially when he aint ever smoked before."

Just then, Spider opened the glove compartment and pulled something out and passed it back. It looked like a blunt. "Here give him this, homie. It'll perk him right up."

Piernas lit it and handed it to Pablo. "Come on, man you gotta do it, eh! This will reverse the effect!"

Pablo hesitantly took it in hand and before taking a hit said, "How will the same shit that got me fucked up make me wake up? That makes no sense."

He took a hit and coughed hard inhaling and exhaling violently. He tried to take a better hit and the same thing happened. He coughed for a good two minutes. He felt funny. Almost restless even. "What's in this shit, homes? Did you lace this with something? You better not have given me a sherm stick, hombre!"

Spider corrected him. "No, mijo, that's a primo. Its a blunt laced with coke. Fucks you up and perks you up at the same time, all right?"

Pablo's eyes went wide handing it back. "I aint down with that bullshit, man! Why would you give me this? Don't call me mijo either! I put up with that shit from mi mama and my sister and i hate it. Really only my madre got away with that shit, but i don't need my boys calling me that too!"

Piernas told him, "All right, frío, Pablo. We'll let you earn your hood name. But it'll make it easier to pull the trigger! I did it the first time i went out and i did my dirt. Once you do it the first time, bust your cherry, it gets easier. Now I can do it high, sober or drunk it don't matter."

Pablo looked at the cocaine laced blunt and asked, "You sure about that?"

Piernas nodded. "Yeah. Anybody in the barrio that knows me can vouch for that. We got you, carnal. We got your back. I'll be right there with you. You got the shotty, i got this," He revealed his Mini Uzi. "Let's go drop these nappy heads, Pablito! Show em what happens when they fuck with Vagos!"

Not far away, on a street just across from the Baldwin Aldea Housing Projects, a young member of the Ballas, a slim nineteen year old African American young man wearing a dark gray T shirt, stone washed baggy jeans, Pro Laps white low tops, and a red bandanna tied underneath a Vice City Mambas cap tilted to the back and on the right side of is head, was conversing with an older gang member, a buff black man who stood about six foot four and wore a white tank top and shades, had a shaved bald head, and gold hoop earrings in each ear. He was sipping a bottle of Ol British Malt Liquor.

"So that's it? You trying to get out the hood? That's your goal? So what you saying little nigga, you too good for your own hood or what? You just in it for the money or are you in it for the brotherhood?"

The younger banger looked at the man and shook his head a grin on his face,. "Oh nah it aint like that, g. I just want to see if i can make it you eel me? I mean I love the hood you know that, player but i hate the police always fucking with me . Even when i aint doing shit! Just that all my enemies no where I'm at now. I just wanna go where they can't see me. Can't even be on my level, you feel me?"

The older male laughed ad said, "Well shit, unless you can change what you look like it don't matter where you live. You could live in Vinewood Hills the pigs still know who you are, young blood! But still i mean its good if you thinking about going to school and what not, I just hope you dont forget where you came from. I aint hating on getting an education I'm just saying i wish more brothers from the hood would remember where they from so they could come back here and change things ya know? Not just live off the hod up there in the rich side of town while other niggas struggle."

The younger guy argued, "I am planning on helping out our hood, man! I can bring back all the paper doing what I do out there, ad try and get people to make some changes! Clean out all the dirty needles on the street, make sure the single mamas can go to school while raising a kid, all that! I just gotta get out and make sure I can do it on my own before i try and get my hood back on its feet. Its because i love my hood that I'm trying to do that. I mean, shit, if i can just lay low, cool out I come back to the hood and we can live large! Build up the houses better, make the projects nicer, fix the wiring in the building, trust me, i aint tryna be selfish out here dawg. that aint me!"

The gang member with the shades smiled and slapped hands with him. "Now you learning brah! Aint ignorant like these other knuckle heads just chasing paper with no other ambitions. Look, you the little homie man so if you got nothing else from me, just remember, try to be about the experiences cause don't nobody wanna hear about the money you make. That's just showing out. Look I gotta holla at you later dawg, I gotta run downtown and pay this parking tickets. I hate these meter maids."

They slapped hands and exchanged a quick hug and he said, "You take care, blood. Don't fuck around out there. Try and be smart. You got a good woman and you're about to have a baby. I know you'll always be Balling like me but just remember, that baby is your first concern all right? I put the Ballas above everything and I still will. I put it above school, a career, church, shit even above God! 'd do all of it again just to survive but i wish I'd never put the hood above my baby. I aint want my son to get caught up in this bullshit. If your kid starts to get caught up in this mess, then, and only then, should you leave the hood and drop your flag, aight? Cause you don't wanna know what its like to lose a child to a slug intended to take you out, man. I hope you never do."

The youth nodded and was silent out of respect for his big homie who had lost his son to a stray bullet in a drive by done by the Rollers. He removed his shades, something most people rarely saw him do, due to the nasty scar next to his left eye. "I can't change that now. I'm not you but you got a chance. Everything would even be even n my eyes if i can just keep the same shit from repeating itself. With as many young homies as i can ya feel me?" The younger nodded and once again they slapped dap and hugged but this time the older guy patted him on the back and when they parted he looked back, and poured the rest of his beer out knowing that he needed to drive. "Be safe little nigga. You gotta make the right choice, Byron."

With that the older guy got in his beat up old purple Tahoma and began to drive off. Byron went back by a fence and posted up waiting for his next client to come. Within five minutes, he made a deal with a base head, selling him a 20 piece. He noticed one of his friends coming up to him. His friend, Robert, was darker skinned than he was and have a short hair cut and dark playful eyes. He wore a white T shirt, black jeans and a dark red belt. He too, was a Baller from the hood but due to the high presence of police in all South Los Santos communities, he had decided to show his affiliation in a less blatant way, via his belt. He had it tucked below his long T shirt for whenever the cops came by so they would not see it, but still fully represented any time a regular car drove by, showing he was a Baller and was not afraid of anybody.

"What's good, B? What you been up to?" Robert asked. Byron just shrugged saying, "You already know, man! Just chilling."

Robert asked, "What were you and Red Dog talking about? That nigga trying to go on another hoo ride or what? That guy is crazier than anybody I know!"

Byron just avoided answering him fully not wanting to get into it. Robert was his homie but as somebody who was the same age he was, Byron figured he would not understand the same logic that he had been able to explain to Red Dog, who was thirty six. "Aint nothing, dawg. We were just shooting debris. So what's up with you, Rob where you been? Where'd you come from? Surprised i aint seen you out here all day!"

There were a couple of other Ballas hanging out on the corner, one of the coming back from a corner store chewing on a piece of beef jerky. He represented with the B sign and Robert represented back. "Ahnot much. Just trying to make this money. Also out there beating up the coochie, you feel me? You know that girl, Janaya? She's a freak! Big time! That girl will do dirty things once you get her drunk!" Byron laughed but Robert would not let up on asking him about the question he asked before. "So what was Red tryna holla at you about? Really, man you can tell me,. Are we boys or not?"

So Byron told him all that they had had been discussing. They were so deep in conversation they did not notice the Moon Beam slowly driving up the street. However, one Baller, the one returning from the store, did notice and approached one of his homeboy as well as a homegirl. "Hey you see that van right there? Who you think that is? Looks real suspicious to me. The moon beam. See that Mexican guy driving? Why is he creeping so damn slow? I say we rush his van before he even gets a chance to try anything.""

The female banger, an African American girl about twenty one years old, who had a nose piercing and her hair cut short, lowered her own sunglasses to look at him and said, "You tripping, D! He's probably just an electrician or something like that! He's kinda fine though! You see that? That boy must work out or something! I'd like to rush him! He aint had a better workout than I can give him! I love those accents. I'll call him papi if he really asks me to!" She said with a giggle.

The other gang member, a Baller dressed in a white T shirt, black shorts, and a red bandanna which he had tied to the front, scolded her saying, "Tanya, don't play around! This is serious! I think he's right." He looked at the gang member chewing the jerky and told him, "I'll be right back, partner. hold on."

The gangster with the jerky said, "Are you crazy, T? You know that could be somebody we got static with, right? What are you thinking? If you're a home girl then be a home girl! Stop trying to be a damn hood rat."

Tanya got offended and flipped him off saying, "Nigga, fuck you! If he aint banging, then I don't care where he's from as long as i get mine! You niggas are tripping you think you're all that when you creep around with all these ho's but if a fine mama like me wanna go get some dick, I'm a hood rat? You're just mad cause it aint your sorry ass."

The gangster with the jerky shook his head. "It aint even like that! I just don't want you fucking some other nigga if he's beefing with the set!"

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You aint fooling anybody, Mr. Smooth i can see through your bluff! You are jealous cause you know what you had was a good thing but you missed out! Besides, I bet he'll at least least go down on me!" The man sputtered angrily and said, "Bitch, what the fuck is wrong with you? It aint even got anything to do with that! Besides, i told you already if i do that it'd be like sucking the dick of every dude you were ever with!"

She put a hand in his face as if to say talk to the hand. "You're such a hypocrite! I bet you didn't think that way when you was getting head, huh? See, normal people wouldn't even think about who else i was with! I was thinking about whatever kinda strawberries you were fucking when i gave you the best head of your life! Why can't men have a two way street?"

He nearly lost his temper and wanted to put hands on her but stopped himself. "You don't gotta go there," He said, breathing. "I just wanna avoid death if i can. I aint just looking out for me. You too, everybody."

The van was parked and not moving. "I'm sorry too. I mean I'm sorry i said you were sorry. I still do think you're a hypocrite for not returning the favor though! At least I know those Latino boys like to eat pussy!" She teased. " This earned a laugh from him and he looked away. "Girl, you're foul." She smiled, looking up the street. "See? Its okay. They stopped."

Just then the door to the van opened and a man wearing a baklava came out wielding a Mini Uzi. Another, was a man wearing a brown bandanna and a black bandanna both covering his face and he held a Mossberg 500 shotgun. He racked it and both Tanya and the gangster with the beef stick looked across the street trying to shout to Byron and Robert who were both somehow oblivious to what was about to happen. Pablo aimed at the two Ballas, yelled, "You like red so much,? Well bleed then, puto!" and fired.

The blast sent Byron flying against the fence, his shirt ripped up by the pellets,blood spurting from the massive wounds. Robert took a big amount of damage in the right arm from the blast and fell to the pavement crying out in pain. "My arm!" He howled. The gang banger wearing the red bandanna emerged from his own apartment with a 20 guage shotgun. He aimed at Pablo who was looking in shock at what he had just done, frozen.

He was about to pull the trigger when he hard a looked and saw Gabriel 'Piernas' Santana aiming an Uzi at him. Before he could turn the shotgun, Gabriel was already unloading at him yelling, "La prima lives, punk motherfucker! Bow down, maricon!"

The rounds hit D,in the chest and the man staggered back several feet before falling sideways crumpling between the sidewalk and the street. The gangster with the jerky stick fired his own pistol at Gabriel but Gabriel sprayed at him raking the rounds toward him with his left hand and caught the Baller in a sweep of gunfire hitting him in the shoulder, chest and one round even got him in the side of the neck.

He looked at the man's fallen beef jerky tick, half eaten, fallen just like the man, who bled there in the streets. "You want beef, puto mayate? You got it!" He aime the already smoking machine gun but then screamed as a shot him him in the side. He spun around to find Robert who had been wounded was still alive and firing a 9mm with his good arm, rapidly and was missing shots like free throws but he had hit him once.

Pablo had taken cover near the van as other neighborhood gang members were firing upon them, including two Ballas and even an independent drug dealer with no gang affiliation, but when he saw Piernas AKA Gabriel had been hit as Robert was still alive, he ran up to the Baller and kicked the gun from his hand. Gabriel, fired the rest of his magazine at them, and the three of them all fell. He reloaded.

Robert screamed, "You did this to me you sick motherfucker! That was my homie! You killed him!" He tried to grab the gun again. Pablo did not want to shoot him. Somehow he still wasn't used to the feel of it even after having done it. Still, he knew he had to be kicked Robert in the face. Robert used his good arm to try and block him but Pablo kicked him.

"Fuck you and your dead homie, you little bitch!" He screamed. He kicked his arm in a rage and then stomped on his chest and gave him a kick to the jaw. "Stay down, motherfucker or I'll blast your head off!" He kicked Robert again and again until the young boy laid there, blood pouring from his mouth, his eyes rolling back in the head. "That's a good little perro. BK, puto! Baller Killa! You should have stayed home!"

The female gang member Tanya, held her wounded former lover in her arms, tears in her eyes,. He was still alive but badly wounded. The other gang member was dead, his shotgun dropped. She saw the beating Pablo was giving Robert and three neighborhood residents, risked getting shot coming to help the wounded gang member too. She kissed him on the forehead. "Just hang on, baby! Stay strong for me."

One of the residents, a young man, a dark skinned African American with curly hair, was a trained medic and began tending to the wounds. He looked at Tanya and said, "He's alive but i don't know how long if we don't get him to a hospital."

She took the shotgun D had dropped and said, "I''l be right back." She walked across the street with the weapon in hand toward Pablo. She drew a bead on the Hispanic gang member who demanded that the barely conscious, Robert,fork over his wallet. He was too busy putting it in his pocket to see she had a clean shot at his back. Before she could however, she felt a sharp arm grab her from behind and she was put in a headlock and Piernas put the Uzi to the side of her temple.

"Where the fuck are you going, chica? Huh? Gimme that fucking shotgun, bitch you aint about to do nada!" He took her shotgun from her and shoved her forward saying, "Run or you're dead, puta!" He hit her in the face with the Uzi and she stumbled back and he gave her a kick in the rib cage and she fell in the street. Another Ballas gang member tried t o fire upon them but he missed and Piernas fired back with his Uzi. "You want some of me, joto? Bring it on!"

The gang member stopped firing for fear of hitting Tanya. Gabriel turned to Pablo and said, "Come on, carnal we gotta get outta here! I can hear the sirens already!" He got into the van and Pablo was about to but that same gang member who had stopped shooting for fear of hitting his homegirl, had managed to help Tanya, who was woozy and had blood running down her head from being hit with a gun, and was escorting her to safety while also firing at the van. "Hurry up, guys let's get the fuck outta here!" Spider barked, ducking down as a bullet shattered the driver window.

Piernas popped off ten more rounds at them just before getting inside. Pablo was about to follow when he saw a figure running nearby. _Another Baller! _He thought in a panic and pumped the shotgun and fired again and the man fell toward as he did. When he looked at the man, he saw that he was not a gang member at all. He had just panicked when he saw a man running that way in the color red. However he was not dressed Hip Hop style. The man was wearing a red, Dashiki. A traditional African garment. Along with red, there was also bright yellow and green.

He had blown out the man's brains and the entire back of his head was missing. "Jesus, homes I just killed him on fucking accident!" He cried out in anguish.

Spider yelled for him to get in the van. "Who gives a shit, fuck him! Get in Pablo! La hada are gonna be here any minute!"

They did and they finally sped away and left the vibrant black community at their backs, shocked and horrified as the three peeled away in the ugly van. The police would not arrive on the scenes at the shooting in Baldwin Aldea for another five minutes.

_Rucas Vs Truchas. _

It was three days later, ever since the drive by on their hood. Delores was at a Amazon Woman clothes shop. She bought for herself a black top, a gray halter top which she was wearing, a pair of black leather pants, some white shorts, some new underwear, picking a black pair of lacy underwear as well as a dark blue bra. She stepped out and paid for all of the stuff. It costed her $200 but she was feeling like hell and could use the pick me up. Pablo had come home and she had yelled at him and even thrown books at him knowing that he had gone and done what he had told her not to do. He then had told her to fuck off and said he was leaving. So now she had to worry about where her brother was out on the streets where he was staying would be be staying with other Vagos?

Meanwhile, she came outside and spotted her homegirl after leaving the shop. She recognized her as Peaches who was on her cell phone. Peaches spotted her too and said, "Hey can I call you back? Yeah I will. Ok bye," She got off the phone and embraced her in a hug. Her real name was Ramona Lopez. However, her nickname was Peaches, due to her bubbly personality and the fact that she was a sweetheart to her friends. She was very beautiful and had coconut colored brown hair, and dark brown soulful eyes, pouty lips, a charming smile, and as the men in the barrio put it "A banging body" and even white boys had desired her all though she was just cute in their eyes but in the hood, they thought she was one of the most beautiful women in the world.

Still, she had both beauty and brains and had never been one to use either simply to be popular.

However she did have a dark side and if anybody ever fucked with her, they were a corpse. Still she was a good friend. "Del, hjoney I'm sorry! I miss Carlos too. I can't believe those pendejos did that shit. Its so unreal I can't even believe he aint around anymore."

Delores nodded and they began to walk together. "So what you up to these days? Aint seen you a minute, girl!" Peaches asked, her somewhat perking up at the sight of her friend.

Delores sighed. "Yeah, I know. I was trying to leave the life you know? A lot of homegirls, if they want out of the game, they get pregnant but for me it was the other was around. I got pregnant first and then i wanted out. I didn't mean to disrespect nobody i just wanted what was best for my kid ya know?"

Peaches nodded putting her cell phone away. She looked at her with a serious expression. "Well those assholes didn't seem to care! They're cowards! Who else would shoot a kid? They gotta die for that. We gotta find who did it and snuff them out."

Delores rolled her eyes and told her, "Believe me, its on my to do list. I just don't know who did it. I guess it doesn't really matter. When it happened I just thought I should just go to every Trucha run barrio and just start popping t everybody until there were none left and that if i did, I was bound to hit one of the shooters. I know that'd be suicide though I'm just saying losing a child will make you crazy."

Peaches looked around, and then leaned up against the wall of the outside of the store. "Well, they don't really know my face ya know? What we could do is set them up. See i can make them think they're gonna get laid and next thing they know, bam. Put some steel to their head."

Delores considered it in her head. It was true, Peaches wasn't as well known among the enemies. She had actually not even been jumped in. She had taken the route that only some female gang bangers did, while the majority of them had taken the choice of being jumped in by the other girls, she had decided to roll the dice instead and whatever the number was that came up, she would have to sleep with that many members. Luckily for Peaches it had only been two. When Delores had been jumped in, she had ended up with a busted lip, a sore rib cage and a jaw a black eye. It had been hell for her but even so, she would have rather gone through that than to do what Peaches had done.

Because of this fact, Delores actually had disliked her at first as she had restored an old stereotype among gang members that women were only good for laying on their back and not as warriors. So at first Delores had thought she was a ho and a coward. However, later on in her career as a gang banger, at this point in her teen years several years back, Delores having proved herself a worthy street soldier, Peaches herself would prove that she was no pushover either. They had gone on several jobs together, and several drive-by's and even while she did not like her during that time, she could count on her.

Delores decided then and there. "Si. I'm ready when you are. get these fucking chavalas."

They made a plan and they got into the car Delores had stolen on the way over there, a 2008 Sentinel. They drove back to Douglass Park. Delores stopped first at a Ammu Nation in Shadow Park, a neighborhood not far from their hood. She went inside and purchased 9x19mm Parabellum ammunition for the VP70 Smiley had given her. She knew that if she ever wanted to buy a handgun from there, she would have to have a permit but she would not need it for buying ammo or buying a shotgun or a Rifle, the reason being that you could conceal a pistol.

She paid $500 for five magazines. In her mind it was a rip off but at least she would not be empty handed taking on the Truchas. She returned to the car, not being as social with the clerk as she would have ordinarily. She put it in reverse and asked, "You ready, Peaches? You got a cuete?"

Peaches nodded lifting her shirt up to reveal a Glock .40 she carried on her and then smiled revealing a . .22 pistol that she kept tucked in her bra. Delores was wide eyed looking at her homie not sure if she was impressed or if Peaches was just crazy. Then as she took a closer look, she saw that Peaches had one of those flash bang holsters. Smiling back, Delores thought, _That's actually pretty clever why didn't I think of that? _

"You're loco, Esa! Just the right woman for the job!" They finally got back to Douglass Park and they headed toward the lake. Peaches looked at her and told her, "Listen, I see some Truchas over there. I wanna see if i can lure some of them to a secluded spot with me. There's too many of them for the two of us. We need to just lure a couple of them."

Delores thought about it and then told her, "Okay, we live in the same neighborhood, that basically means Truchas and Vagos could be next door neighbors or be across the street from one another and blast at each other from their front yard. Since that's the case, the Truchas consider this their barrio as much as we do. You lure them to where they think they'll get lucky and I'll have a nasty surprise waiting for them."

She approached a group of Truchas to do just that. Delores backed the car up and put it in park and observed as the attractive young Latina approached a group of gang members,b a few of them dressed in either blue or gray, the gangs colors, however most of them were dressed in neutral clothes to avoid suspicion from the police but Delores knew that ultimately if the cops were determined enough that would not stop them from harassing them. In fact, they still knew the faces of most of the criminals from Douglass Park.

If they had nothing better to do, which often was the case, they could easily harass, threaten, frisk, beat up and rest people for no reason. Sometimes the pigs would even shake down drug dealers both for narcotics and money. They would act like it would all go to evidence but Delores knew that was bullshit.

Peaches was ignored by most of the Mara Truchas but she noticed that Peaches was talking to two of them. One had short hair and a soul patch, wit light brown eyes and wore a gray jacket and a blue T shirt under it. The other wore black dickies, a gray hooded sweatshirt, and a San Fierro 69ers beanie hat. She was way too far away to understand what was being said but she noticed the male with the soul patch pull out a blunt and looked at Peaches, raising his eyebrows.

Delores got a text message from Peaches that said **Oye chica! I just met two fuckin fine ass vatos from the hood. You should come and meet them. I think they might be bad boys. Meet us in the park. 3 you! **

Delores laughed. She was really selling it. She got out and started to walk toward them carrying her purse with her just in case. They approached her and the man with the 69ers hat wolf whistled. "Damn, girl you weren't lying! Oye mami what's your name?"

Delores faked a smile and lied, "Mi llamo Cee Cee. Y tu?"

The man kissed her hand. "Cee Cee. I like that. My name is Pedro. This is my homeboy Lupe. Oye so check it out there's a party going down in our varrio. We got drinks, dancing music, all sorts of fun. You down?"

Delores looked to Peaches who smiled back at her. Delores, knowing she would have to sell it, grabbed the man's belt and kissed him, catching him by surprise and as she pulled away, she nibbled on his lip a bit before letting go. "I'm down."

Peaches did the same, kissing Lupe. "Papi what do i gotta do to get put onto the hood? just gotta go for a ride with you, right?"

Pedro briefly parted from Delores to whisper to his homie. "¡Lupe, estas chicas tratan de ser jodidas en la capucha! ¿Qué piensa usted?" (**Lupe, these girls are trying to get fucked into the hood! What do you think?)**

Lupe snorted and then replied, "¿Digo por qué el carajo no? Yo aint fue colocado dentro de una semana. Esta chica tiene un cuerpo agradable. ¡Entonces haga a la señora que cava usted, eso es un gran asno!" **(I say why the fuck not? I aint been laid in a week. This girl has a nice body. So does the lady digging you, that's a great ass!)**

Lupe then returned to Peaches with a grin on his face. "Well...no. Its not enough but it is a good start, chica bonita!"

Delores noticed a park bathroom. "We could go in there. You could have the ladies room, we'll take the men's room. Or vice versa."

Th man grinned and said, "Lead the way!" As she walked in front of him, she wiggled her hips to be more seductive. The man jumped her, right away, kissing her and spinning her around. She did it back but he was getting a little rough. "Slow down, papi." She reached for her purse. However he snatched it and held it out of reach.

"What? I thought you were looking for some dick? I can supply ! Besides the way you bit me on the ip, that means you like it rough, right! What do you got in that purse? Pepper spray?" He asked.

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that but you aint fucking me till you put a rubber on. I aint having somebody's baby I just met. I'm all about fun but you can never be too careful."

He scoffed. "Come on, girl! i aint got no Aids or anything nasty like that! Besides I'll pull out."

She rolled her eyes. "I've heard that before. The answer is the same. Put a hat on or you aint gonna get any of my loving, baby. And its good too, papi," She said doing her best to sound seductive and not like a female thug.

He looked frantic and was sweating but he said, "Al;l right all right! Just hurry up! Don't go trying to pick pocket me or some shit either, all right? I had that happen too many times but I will know if you try it."

She smiled sweetly. "I wouldn't do that baby. I got my own feria. Now just lay back and relax. I can put the raincoat on with my mouth."

He looked at the ceiling as she undid his zipper. "Where do I know you from? You look awfully familiar."

She shook her head as she brought her face closer to his lap. "I'm from the neighborhood chico! Maybe we went to the same high school."

He looked down at her and he said, "Wait a minute. I know you. You're that girl El Gallo tried to shoot! You're a fucking Vago!" She readied the gun and shoved him back, and pulled it up out of her purse already ready and she fired twice. One shot hit him in the chest on the right side of it. The next hit him a centimeter from his heart. He fell back in shock muttering, "You fuckin bitch...," Before falling to the floor holding his bloody wounds, his breathing unsteady as a bullet had gone through his rib cage and pierced his right lung. Delores took out a black bandanna she always kept on her and wiped her lipstick off her mouth. She wiped it off so that the DNA would not be discovered by the police.

Meanwhile, at the same time in the ladies room, Peaches and Lupe were kissing and breathing hard. He lifted up her shirt and was kissing her neck, trailing his hand up her bare belly. She shivered at the touch on a sensitive spot of hers but as she closed her eyes almost in enjoyment of it, she remembered that she had a reason she was doing this. She opened her eyes. Just then, two gunshots sounded off. Then a third one moments later.

Lupe started to pull away but Peaches kept on him. "What's the matter, big boy?" She asked, her lips pouting.

He pushed her off and then he came back to her and grabbed her and pulled out the gun she had tucked in her pants and he looked at her with angry eyes, "What the fuck is this?" He was about to try to use it. She drove her knee into his groin and then kicked the gun away. He grunted in pain and stumbled and she hit him with a left hook. She connected with his right cheek. He held his groin and she hit him again but he grabbed her and hit her with his forearm. Then he hit her with a punch to the stomach.

They exchanged blows a few times but she backed up reaching into her shirt as she saw him going for the dropped Glock 40. She had the .22 ready before he could even get the gun pointed at her. She smiled at him and he looked at her and yelled, "No!" She fired six shots and he fell to the ground, collapsing on the bathroom floor. He helplessly felt his wounds,his clothing stained with blood.

Peaches got herself together and ran to the other bathroom and spotted Pedro lying there dead, two bullets in the chest and one in the right eye, the eyeball hanging out of its socket. "Let's go," Delores told her. As they came outside of the bathroom, they spotted three Truchas coming toward them, and Delores knew they were from across the street where Peaches had picked up the guys.

"Fucking Chavalas!" They yelled. _They must have heard the shots..._ she thought to herself as she took aim. She fired hitting one of them with two rounds, one hitting a guy with a crew cut and earrings wearing a white T shirt, a black puffy jacket, a gold chain necklace, one round getting him in the right hip bone, the other in the stomach. He returned fire and Delores took cover behind the wall that was in front of each bathroom door. The three Truchas came after them, firing still but Peaches did something smart and ducked back into the bathroom. Two rounds hit the door to the ladies room.

A gang member with thick curly black hair, tan khakis, a blue bandanna in his pocket, and a Los Santos Dribblers jersey, fired at Delores but Delores shut the door similar to how Peaches did, just enough to protect her but also enough to return fire through the narrow space. "Fucking pussies, those Vagos send their rucas to do their dirty work? That's why you guys are busters! You aint no south siders! You should be rolling with the those North Side putos up in San Fierro! Fucking faggots!"

The third gang member, a man wearing a blue Football jersey, and a gray bandanna, fired, and a round nearly hit Delores. She fired seven rounds, and hit the guy in the puffy jacket who was already wounded but not before two rounds grazed her. One in the right arm, one in the left shoulder. "Fuck these putas! Truchas are taking over this varrio! Mara 18 aint shit!"

Delores fired six shots, hitting the guy in the gray bandanna. Four rounds hit him and she regretted not aiming better buts she was just firing with one hand and had done well considering. She took hold with both hands and advanced. The man had been hit with three rounds in the stomach and one near the right rib cage. As he fell, she fired a fifth shot into his back.

Peaches came back out firing too and fired on the last one as he realized he was alone. He fired over his shoulder as he attempted to flee but he took three rounds in the back from Peaches. He fell forward on the grass. They advanced toward him and began to aim to finish him off but could hear sirens. "Come on let's go. I got what we needed. These guys aint gonna snitch. They'll want to return the favor themselves."

They got back into the car and began to speed away. A member of the Mara Truchas began firing upon the car and four rounds hit the back windshield and two rounds hit the back left window sending glass everywhere. Delores fired the last three rounds back at them. They drove off leaving the Douglass Park neighborhood. "Let's go get something to eat, I'm starved. Plus we need to stay out of the hood at least two hours. That should be enough time for the pigs to come and do their thing and then we can go back. Its easier to have an alibi when its true so let's make sure we're out and about," Delores suggested.

Peaches noticed that she was bleeding having taken a round in the leg. "Shit, Delly! I'm hit! One of those pendejos must have hit me. What do we do? I don't know if a hospital is a good idea!"

Delores looked at it and said, "Shit, me too. Fuck. We'll give Smiley a call see if he can help us out. He usually has a way to get bullets out of homies that get shot if they aint trying to be laid up in the hospital."

Peaches sighed and said, "That was a waste of time. We gotta be more careful. Any time we ride on our enemies could be the last time or that final straw. If we aren't careful, we could lose our freedom over some bullshit!"

Delores nodded. "I hear you, Peaches but we will be careful from now on. Anyway it wasn't a complete waste. I at least got a name of one of the guys that shot Carlos. El Gallo. I think I've heard that name around but he aint from this barrio. I'm still trying to figure out if they shot Carlos because of who he was or if they did it cause they thought I'd be with him? I mean i got just as much of a rep as he did if not that a bigger one everybody from Douglass knows me, and even other Vagos 18 Barrios know who I am."

Peaches winced at the pain in her leg and looked out the window trying to not to think of it. "Well I'm sure we can find out if we find the right people. I've heard of El Gallo. He's pretty big time. He's a dealer and he makes a lot of feria for the Truchas. Plus a mean rep,this guy kills Vagos, High Rollers, Ballas, it just don't matter to him. I'm sure he'd love to kill some North Siders if we lived in northern San Andreas, he'd be a terror there know who he is, shit they even heard of him in the pinta in El Salvador!"

Delores shrugged. "Whatever. I'm still gonna kill him and anybody that helped him. I don't care who it is. Kill my boyfriend and my child, you're a corpse."

They reached downtown and turned down 7th street. "Horale, Esa! let's get something to eat!" Peaches smiled and held up the wallets of the two men they had fooled. "I think Pedro and Lupe are buying."

* * *

_That's all for this chapter people! Okay, so for those that don't know a lot of Chicano slang, for example those who don't know, while GTA San Andreas would have you believe that pendejo means dick head it actually also means dumb ass or asshole. For the name of one of the missions which i decided to title much like Afro Spirit does but still not his idea originally but Rock Star's, well, they did it first! The name of the mission Rucas Vs Truchas refers to Ruca which is Spanish slang or calo for girlfriend so it is fitting. I would like to point out that Peaches is meant to be visually inspired by Jessica Alba. _

_To those who don't know this, gringo is a general term used for white American and can be used as an insult but is not always. Likewise, mayate is a derogatory term for a black person translated to beetle and i guess people intend it and receive it as equal to the word Nigger but really being called beetle is bad enough on its own, enit? Being called a bug. But still since Afro Spirit is portraying the black side of the Black Vs Brown war in L.A. I figured I'd do the opposite and show the Brown point of view, since Mexicans tend to be Native American as it s and I am closer to them heritage wise._

_Plus its also a fact that even though Afro says the the Mexican Mafia put a hit out on black people whether they bang or not, its also true that the black gangs instigated it just as much. Because what he says is the point of view of the black gangs but the view of the Latinos is hat the East Coast Crips (Which refers to the East Side of the 110 freeway that divides East and West in South Central not the East Coast. ) robbed them so they've been at war ever since. Another theory, and this goes hand in hand with what black gangs say about La Eme putting a green light on them cause of the 92 rots, is that while many Latinos took part in the riots the thing to remember is the infamous Crip named Football, who attacked Reginald Denny te white driver out of anger at the Rodney King incident which led to the 92 riots, he also attacked a Latino man which did not get as much publicity. Needless to say the Surenos put a hit on him too. Then it got escalated. Also there is more to the alliance with the Aryan Brotherhood than i thought. A sureno told me that yes while they do attack blacks and what not due to them being their competition in the hood on drug deals, at the same time, they may seem to be allied with the neo nazi gang AB but in reality they sell drugs to them but often they attack the white nazis too and kill them but AB never really retaliates much because now Mexicans are the majority in the prisons so it would be suicide so things aren't all what it seems. I am just saying from my pointy of view if you have two groups messing with you it makes no sense not to hit them both but i guess La Eme does do that just they aren't attacking white inmates like they used to._

_The Sureno told me, the one ias talking to "We sell dope to them and they sell to their people they may think its a deal and so do our enemies but we're getting the juero's high" Juero is another slang term for a white guy, jera for white girl. So on the black vs brown thing there is two sides to the sto and attrocities commited by both._

_When it comes to tyhe beef i am portraying here, between Ballas and Vagos though in SA they were allies, in this ia m making them enemies at least since i have the Ballas as being the Bloods. Cause see the P Stone Bloods from Baldwin Village robbed some gang members from 18th street for drugs. So they been at war ever since._

_Now 18th street aren't really as hateful as Surenos and are the only LA. gang that is not under the Sureno banner hence why the Trucha in the story mocked them saying they should be with those North Side putos IE bitches. However, while the 18th street gang AKA Mara 18 (Mara means gang) did not initially get caught up in the racial war, it just sort of ended up happening anyway all though they do ally with some Crips still, its racial to a degree when they fight the Bloods and they don't get all along with every Crip set. There are, after all 200 Crip sets in L.A. and 70 Blood sets._

_Douglass Park is based on a more realistic replica of MacArthur Park which i guess Glen Park was meant to be based on Echo Park and MacArthur Park but I got Shadow Park as Echo Park. If I had to say Piernas was based on anybody it would be the bald gang member Moreno from Training Day among the Ese's who tried to kill Ethan Hawke. As for Smiley he would be visually based on the gang leader of the same name from Training Day i thought that guy was cool he was prepared to kill a narcotics officer even though he was a cop when he believed the guy had raped his cousin._

_Spider is based on the character Sniper from Training Day another one of the Ese's. _

_Just like in my other story, the Matones are based on the Surenos they will appear later, though i guess since the Mara Truchas are based on MS13 they are pretty much Surenos too due to the 13._

_That thing with Peaches packing a gun in her bra strap, there is an actual holster that women can strap to their bra that makes it easy to conceal. That's one advantage they have for once :P_

_The Baldwin Aldea projects are based on the notorious Blood neighborhood called Baldwin Village as Aldea is Spanish for Village, the real life ghetto is also known as "The jungle" also a place shown in Training Day._

_Lastly, cuete is slang for a gun it translates to fire cracker. The mission i had Delores do with Peaches is based on two things, in the sense of seducing a guy, its based on that mission in GTA IV called Out Of The Closet where Niko pretends to be gay on a love site just to flush out a gay guy he is meant to cap. Well this is like that except seducing guys from a rival gang. As far as where it went down it is also sort of based on one thing female bangers can do which is seduce a rival and lead him to a trap or kill them on their own. The thing in the bathroom, i based on a gangland episode where two female members of the Maniac Latin Disciples seduced two Latin Kings, led them to a bathroom, and the shot them both but they got caught which obviously is not gonna happen here._

_Also when Piernas said "La Prima lives" that's based on what a gang member says before shooting rivals in American Me at the end, a movie sort of based on the forming of the Mexican Mafia AKA La Eme. The movie is somewhat inaccurate but i liked that line._

_So its based on the GTA mission and that ganglands episode. So that said, hope you enjoyed it, people! I am deleting Bobby's side of the story because I wanna have it be strictly a female and Latina point of view so sorry if you were attached to Bobby at all but this is what i decided. Enjoy!_

_Read and review!_


	3. Thin Line Between Personal And Business

Okay_ so that's just a start to my story Cross Fire i wanna keep the shit going every bit as much as Wild West but in all fairness I did start Wild West first lol. So yeah so far Delores has gotten down with the gang and she's had a shootout with the Mara Truchas and her brother Pablo went and did a shooting in a Ballas hood. I'll try to get these updated as much as possible but i aint making any promises just yet. You should all know though, that scene where Delores carjacks that guy for the Feltzer is somewhat inspired by the ransom kidnapping activity in Saints Row. I just tried to make it more realistic. Obviously there is no such place as Forgive and Forget and I can imagine there being a Pay N Spray and criminals using it to shake the cops before I could imagine a place called Forgive And Forget. For those that don't know it's like the Pay N Spray but the SR version except instead of respraying the car it's a drive thru confessional and after you pay it says your sins are forgiven lol. OK have a good read!_

* * *

_Good Die Young_

Delores spotted Spider chilling out on a porch with a forty ounce and she took the bottle from him and threw it against the ground and it shattered. "Hey, what the fuck, Esa? What's your problem, Del? You got a problem?" Piernas was standing nearby and demanded, "Yeah, Delores, what crawled up your ass and died?"

She snarled, "You know what my problem is, pinche cabron! You knew i didn't want mi hermano in the life! What happened to Carlos?! He got dusted for being stupid and now you're trying to get my little brother shot out here with him?!"

Spider snorted at her and just said, "The vato's eighteen. He's a grown man. He can make decisions for himself."

Delores shook her head. "He could go to college! He loves reading he could be a doctor or a lawyer! He could cure cancer, nothing would stop him if he was just in the right environment. God, i gotta get him outta the barrio. He's just going to end up dead or in jail."

Piernas spoke up and said, "You're a homegirl and you know i love you but you're full of shit, Esa. Fucking hypocrite."

She demanded, "The hell did you just say?"

Piernas nodded. "Si mon! You did dirt with Peaches back in the day! You always saying how you never smoked nobody but what about those Matones from Flora Avenue? You and Peaches both went through their varrio shooting! I know you did so don't go saying you never killed anybody before Carlos died cause I know that's untrue. Those Truchas you and Smiley got weren't your first, hermana. I know it."

Delores snapped, "Wrong, pendejo! We shot them but they lived! We were trying to kill them, that's true but that doesn't really count! We shot them and put them in the hospital but we didn't kill them. That doesn't count. If one of the guys had done that, you know it wouldn't count either so stop making me out to be this chola who kills anything that moves. Me and Peaches hit licks together aside from that. That was all. I aint saying I'm innocent but don't go making shit up that I didn't do?"

Spider laughed at that. "Chale, mija. You and Peaches must not be cut out for shit life then. Since you're going on and on about Pablo getting out of the life maybe you should too. See, this is why some homeboys don't take the home girls seriously at times. Cause Peaches got rolled in instead of getting jumped in, and you didn't even take a life for your hood until a few days ago and you got jumped into the cliqua in High School. I mean you're not setting a good example for other home girls, if you aint ready to take care of business its time to step down and let a chica that's real take your place."

She shook her head, trying to control her temper. "No, that aint fair. I know I haven't exactly been as hardcore as Carlos but look what happened to him. He's dead now because he got into too much trouble. Is that the kind of life for a child to be brought into?"

Piernas kicked back next to Spider who was shirtless as he usually was and he said, "Well you don't gotta worry about that now, eh? If I Was in your place I'd be out for blood. I'd want the murderer of my unborn baby's head on a fuckin plate. If you don't want to be in the cliqua its your choice but what happened to you is proof that even if you moved into the suburbs with the gringos, the Truchas would still find you. You could drop your flags today but it wouldn't make sense if you did. Barrio Eighteenth Vagos is Familia, whether you like it or not."

Delores was so angry at what he was saying she couldn't even speak but she heard a gruff voice said, "Piernas, shut your mouth, stupido. Delores is familia to us don't go disrespecting her like that. You don't know what its like to lose a child. Its not something you can get over in a week or a month or a year. Not now, not ever."

It was Smiley. She was glad he was there and had stuck up for her. "I used to wonder if i fucked up when i joined the cliqua but now I think I might as well make the best of it. It's hard for a lot of people to accept that this is what their life is. What is a cliqua? What is a gang? Its familia looking out for each other. Society can say that's bad all they want but they don't know shit. Delores, I hear what you are saying Mija but its Pablito's choice. I promised you I'd watch out for the little vato and so will all of us. Es mi Barrio."

She smiled softly and nodded. "I know. I just don't want to see him end up like Carlos. Carlos may have done some fucked up things but he doesn't deserve to die for them. He didn't deserve to die. Mira..." She said looking at Spider and Piernas. "I guess I can't blame him for wanting to get down for the barrio since he must feel the same way I do. I've seen how guys like that end up though. If either of you let him get hurt when I'm not around I'm gonna cut your Chorizo's off. You got it?" She demanded, glaring at Piernas and Spider. They just laughed. "Don't worry, we'll make sure your son is home in time for bed!"

Smiley raised his voice. "Oye! Pablo and a couple of the homies are down at the docks right now handling some business. We need to get down there and make sure the deal goes like we planned. If it does, we can make a lot of feria. Delores, can you drive?" She confirmed this in Spanish. 'Si." Taking his car keys as he tossed them to her. They got into Smiley's ride, a gray 2007 Willard. She started the car, Smiley getting in front, while Spider and Piernas got in the back. They began to drive out to the place and Delores followed the GPS. They were going to the Port Of Los Santos the bigger area Ocean Docks was surrounded by.

Smiley leaned back in the seat. "Mija, you mind finding something on the radio to listen to?" She turned on the radio station and put it to Radio Los Santos. The song Summer Nights by Lil Rob played. Spider cracked a smile at that and commented, "Chingon! That's the rola, homie. ¡Escuela vieja!"

After a while as the song played on, she asked them, "So what kind of deal is this? We're back in the coka? Things were pretty slow for a while. Used to be able to make just enough cash to get by but then you couldn't even do that when Carlos was slinging."

Piernas answered her saying, "Coke is always gonna be the gold rush of the modern world. The only thing was, we haven't been dominating the trade for a while. Shit has been bad in the new millennium. A key is still $1400 but we've got a lot of enemies on all sides. We need more allies, Delores! Either we gotta squash beefs that aint as intense as the static we got with the Truchas, or we just reach out to guys we never did before. Either way, something's gotta give."

Spider seemed to disagree with "Chale, homes! We're 65,000 deep, nation wide, P! We don't need nothing from these bitches around here. We're a force to be reckoned with all on our own."

Piernas, AKA Gabriel, explained to him, "Look, i know we are. We even outnumber the Rollers and they're the biggest black gang in the country. We got 65,000 flat-out they got between 60,000 to 65,000. At best for them they tied up with us but I'm pretty sure we got more soldados on the streets than they do. Plus their numbers are more scattered out. Still, homie, the Rollers, the Ballas, Truchas, and the Matones? That's still a lot more beef than we need in just one city."

Smiley felt the same way. "Yeah, that might make things a little better in the varrio. Just, not the Ballas, obviously. Learn from the past or it repeats itself. Those fuckin levas can't be trusted, we know that now."

Gabriel scoffed at that. "I aint sitting down with the Rollers either, vato! I got no love for those pinche mayates! I aint cooling it out with any of the tinto cliquas, Smiley! We've been at it for years and we're gonna keep at it till they're all dead or we are! It'll happen to them first cause they got set tripping within their own neighborhoods, they got bad blood with the Ballas, the Matones don't like them, the Truchas don't like them, we don't like them and we're more deep than they are these days so they'll be the first ones to go under all the way if anybody does. Them or the puta Ball Sacks. This aint the 90's so they don't run shit in Santos anymore."

Delores took them into the next intersection just making it as the light turned yellow and she pulled the Willard into San Piedra , the port of Los Santos. She rode through the area that had been Ocean Docks. It still was known to some by its old name but to many residents it was just one small part of the greater port side community of San Piedra. They came to a warehouse after taking a left at the last light. They spotted four members of their gang near the warehouse door chilling next to a tan 63' Savannah. Delores saw that her brother was with them. She swallowed hard not wanting to go off on the kid. The Vagos got out of the car and approached their fellow gang members.

Spider slapped hands and greetings with Pablo, and a gang member who wore a black baseball cap that had the initial LS on it and he also had a white T-shirt on and a checkered white and yellow plaid button up shirt that had only the top one buttoned, cholo style, he also wore a pair of black baggy jeans and he had a tattoo of a Virgin Mary praying on his left arm. On the right arm, a tattoo that read, _God Forgives, I don't. _

The other was a boy about Pablo's age who had no tattoos. He actually looked younger than Pablo by at least a year or so. He had the look of an innocent person, he had dimples and curly black hair and dark but big eyes. He wore a necklace with a crucifix on it over a violet T-shirt with the Love Fist logo on it. He didn't look like your average gang banger and if he didn't have baggy jeans like the other guy, Delores might have thought he was non affiliated. _Then what would he be doing here? _

Spider loudly said, "Horale, Pablito! What's with the lambe? He aint from my barrio, homes!"

Pablo stuck up for the kid. "Nah, homes, he's cool! This is Junior, carnal. He went to my school. We had class together and shit he was funny as hell. He acts like a shy guy but i think he gets more pussy than a lesbian, Spidey, cause the hynas dig those dimples, Ese!"

Spider laughed as he lit a cigarette and playfully but mockingly pinched the guy's cheek. Junior, whom Delores had heard of before, as she remembered him referring to the boy as Juni, pulled away, frowning with disapproval. "Ease, up pendejo! He's cool! I'm just showing him the ropes, Spider! You know I wouldn't vouch for him if i didn't know he was cool." Pablo said.

Delores spoke up, "Pablo, you better not be getting this guy in trouble with any of your bullshit, stupid! Just cause you're an idiota doesn't mean he has to be! Smiley, tell this scrub what's up on this life, man! You've seen it all!"

Smiley just shrugged passively and grinned. "Free will! It's a bitch, que no?"

She rolled her eyes but Pablo just smirked. "The people most critical of those who drinks are former drunks themselves," This earned another scowl from her but he added, "Oh wait, Del! You never stopped drinking!"

Smiley sized up Juni and said, "All right bring him by the hood later on, he can kick it with us. You vouched for him, Pablito and that means something but we gotta get to know the little vato first before we make a decision to put him onto the varrio. We'll just see what's what, all right?" He said nodding and giving a friendly gesture toward Juni. "If it turns out you're cool, then we'd be happy to have another good man on now though you're just a hang around a tag along. Its good you're here though, we can see if you got true grit. I aint saying something is gonna go down but even just smooth deals are serious business. You gotta be more careful with guys you never met before."

Juni looked nervous but he didn't say anything. Gabriel laughed and said, "Pinche lambe! He's scared! He has no heart! Pablo you better take him home fool this guy aint cut for the life. Aint for everybody."

Juni defended himself. "I aint scared! I grew up around this shit all the time. I just didn't get down before."

Gabriel shook his head. "That's what they all say, Juni. A lot of people think they're gonna be hard but push comes to shove, they got their tail tucked between their legs when the bullets go flying. We'll see what you're really about. If you really got some cojones."

Pablo tucked his Glock 19 under his shirt checking to make sure everything was all right. "Hey we got one for my homie, man?" Spider had a .50 Desert Eagle, Gabriel handed Smiley a 12 gauge shotgun while putting together a mini Uzi for himself loading up the ammunition. Delores was handed a new pistol, a Glock 20 with two fifteen round mags on top of the fifteen in the gun.

"No, he's gotta go without one this time. I didn't have a cuete at first when I was a pee wee, Ese and I'm still breathing!" Gabriel said and this boiled Delores's blood slightly. Here the poor kid was near Ocean Docks about to be involved in a drug transaction and he couldn't give him a gun? Though she liked him, at times he was a real dick, especially to new gang members. "Piernas, shut the fuck up!" Smiley barked. "They're here!"

A truck pulled up and it was followed by a black Sentinel. Four Hispanic men got out of the car, each of them dressed in fancy clad clothing more than likely purchased from Perseus as they had on suede bucks and charcoal sports jackets. The two men in the truck were dressed more like a couple of Rancheros or something to that effect as they had on cowboy style hats, purple Hawaiian shirts and skinny jeans as well as snake-skin boots. The guy who seemed to be their leader, a thin man with slicked back hair, sunglasses, and a gold cuban chain necklace, walked to the back of the truck and removed the tarp from the black 55' Walton.

The 18th street gang member with the LS hat had a suitcase. He opened it and showed the drug dealers the suitcase full of money. " Cómo es usted, mi amigo? ¡Veo su dinero es tan bueno como su palabra como un hombre!"** (How are you, my friend? I see your money is as good as your word as a man!)**

He chuckled as he took the briefcase and looked through the money. "Still in the barrio, eh Smiley? Would have thought a man like yourself would have moved out by now! If you can afford to pay for weight like this, you must have enough to move someplace nice, que no? Maybe Vinewood or Richman! The air is much cleaner."

Smiley shook his head. "Chale. Not for me, Rivera. Douglass Park is home. I grew up there. I've seen the way the yuppies lived, I've had money to stay in their plush Hotels. Its nothing like home. Es Mi barrio. I'd never leave that behind. If i can't make my paradise here i can't anywhere. Feria was never the issue."

The man removed his sunglasses. "¡Bastante chica! Who is this bella? What is your name, seniorita?" He asked, addressing Delores. Piernas chuckled. "He don't bite girl tell him your name!" She scowled back at him. While Pablo was her younger brother and was often headstrong and impulsive and downright stupid at times, Gabriel Moreno was like the older brother that she had never wanted but was still a pain in the ass. "Delores Fortuna. ¿Qué es su nombre?"

He introduced himself. Though he was cocky, Delores had to admit he had charisma, that of a natural born leader. "Mi llamo Luca Rivera. Business partners with Douglass park and every other barrio in Los Santos. Let's just say I was there for the gang even when the Loco Syndicate fell apart. At first the Ballas and the High Rollers as they now call themselves, had nobody to turn to. Ah...but my Mexican brothers and sisters were always ready to make mucho dinero. When they got the advantage, the other guys wised up but by that time, it was too late. Which is fine by me. These Americanos have no respect for a Colombian entrepreneur. Think I am another Colonel Cortez, no?" Him and his henchmen laughed at that.

Spider gave a nod of respect. "Always managed to keep out of the beef, eh Rivera? How'd you do that, Ese?"

Rivera let out another light-hearted chuckle that Delores was not sure was authentic. "Amigo, there is much profit to be made in gang wars but not to take sides, comprende? I have to keep it neutral for the best interests of everybody. Everything else is just politics. Street politics and I have outgrown such tiring nonsense. This isn't the 80's."

His guards finished checking the money out and then gave their boss a nod. "It was a pleasure doing business. Delores, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. You ever looking to move up in the world I am never far."

The Colombian gang members in the Ranchero hats and the Hawaiian T-shirts tossed Smiley the keys to the truck. "All yours, mang. Hasta luego."

Smiley caught them with ease and whistled. "Oye! Pablo! Come here! Time to earn your keep."

Pablo came running over as did his friend Juni. "What's up, jefe? What can i do?"

Smiley handed him the keys to the truck and told him, "You're gonna drive this shit to our lockup on 7th street. Get this shit stashed where we know its safe. The chotas will find it sooner or later if we stash it in the neighborhood."

Juni looked nervously at Pablo and then at Smiley. "What do I do?"

Gabriel scoffed. "Pablo, what the fuck, man why did you have to bring this leva along? He aint no cholo, man he's a fucking school boy. This is grown man's business. Pablito we know you got balls but this guy is acting like a bitch. If he aint a gangster, that's fine but he shouldn't be trying to be something he aint. Matter of fact I know this vato. Got a loving mom and dad at home. He should be home with them studying for class or some shit. Your madre know you're out here like this, homes? What would she say?"

Juni got defense and seemingly angry. "I'm a man! I don't gotta get permission to do shit! Besides what mama don't know can't hurt her!" This only earned further ridicule from Piernas who said something out of ear shot in Spanish to Spider that got a laugh from the tattooed muscular banger but he only said in English, "Then prove it. Worry about getting shit where it needs to be. That's twenty bricks in there. We get caught with this shit, that's serious time. You down for that?"

Delores could see that he was scared but he said. "Yeah, i don't care. Let's go." As Gabriel turned away, Pablo slipped his friend a .25 and whispered, "I got you, Ese, he's stupid if he thinks I'm letting you roll without a cuete. That aint smart. Not in L.S. that's your life-preserver".

They got into the truck and as Juni was going to be riding shotgun, Pablo took a minute to show him how to load and use the .25 handgun. He had given him an extra clip and showed him how to reload quickly. He made Juni do it several times before he would be satisfied. "All right, hombre let's go! Vamos! We'll see you back in the varrio," Smiley called.

Just then, a burst of automatic fire sounded off and Delores's heart nearly jumped clean from her chest. She readied her gun as she saw several masked gunmen ambushing the Colombians who were making their way to a boat. The two gang members who had driven the truck initially were cut down in a storm of automatic well dressed guards got their MP5's from the car and returned fire but another was shot in the process.

They returned fire with fury and hit two masked gunmen bringing them to their knees but there were many masked gunmen waiting behind crates for cover and they too, opened fires, Delores spotted at least two M-16's. A car pulled up and a trio of gang members got out, all of them armed with Micro SMG's. The homie from the hood who had carried the money opened fire with his pistol at the attacking gang members.

He beckoned toward their bandanna colors, despite the blue and white bandannas covering their faces it was obvious who was hitting them. "Mara putas are trying to pull a fast one, carnal! Trying to steal our sugar!" He hit one of the attacking gang members and the man, a short and pudgy Hispanic with a gray T-shirt, blue shorts, and a blue bandanna over his face, fell over, turning on his side as he caught two rounds in the chest, two in the stomach, and one in the left leg.

They were boxed in between the newly arriving gang members, and the masked gunmen who were waiting by the port side. One of Rivera's guards hit a gang member dressed in all black and a baklava with twenty rounds from his H&K before the man could properly fire his AR-15 at Rivera and his men.

Rivera himself had a Glock 18 which he set to automatic and he let a burst of rounds at an armed Trucha gang member who was attempting to kill him with fire from his M4A1. With one hand, he let out twelve rounds which hit the man in the face, the rounds punching though his skull one round tearing into his right eyeball.

As they advanced toward their boat they had waiting, another Trucha attacked them from their right, firing an M-16 variant which caught another guard with several rounds in the right shoulder and thigh. He returned fire and hit the attacker, as did Rivera and wounded him with at least three rounds in his left shin but the man was not dead and he took cover, taking a breather trying to lay low before he got hit worse. The gang member still blindly fired over the crate. Two more cars had arrived on the scene, each filled with Mara Truchas who came out armed to the teeth.

Delores took cover behind the Sentinel the Colombians had arrived in. Several rounds hit the car shattering the back windshield as well as the left tail light.

She blindly fired the Glock 20 from cover letting off six shots but she heard a male cry out. She peered around the side to see a man fall sideways but stuck her head back behind cover just in time, as the Truchas fired a burst of automatic rounds that barely missed her and it chipped away at the paint on the fired his 12 Gauge and hit one of the enemies in the chest with a blast.

He sent that member of the Trucha flying back and crashing into the side of his own car, staining it with his blood as the shotgun blast had gone through him and had even partly came out of his back. The gang member, a bald Hispanic man with a mustache and a beard, dressed in a dark red T shirt under a white wind breaker, along with a Liberty City cocks sports hat, fell, and though he was not in Trucha colors, she knew he was still affiliated.

Juni took cover running out from behind the truck as one of the Truchas rapidly squeezed a pistol at him laughing as he took cover near Pablo who had taken refuge behind the right back tire of the Willard they had driven but was bravely firing back. A round whizzed past Juni's ear and he cried out but Pablo pulled him down to cover next to him. He fired four shots around the side. "Hahaha! Look at that little Chavala run! Like a little bitch, Ese! Vagos are cowardly faggots! Fuck eighteenth street, homes! You bitches are weak!"

Pablo fired at the man who said that but that man ducked behind the cover of his own car, a red and white Hermes. "Junior, what happened to the strap I gave you, man? Use it!"

Juni looked at him like he didn't know what to do. "I dropped it, Pablo! I panicked! I didn't mean to!"

Pablo looked at him and shouted, "Are you stupid, or what, cabron? I didn't give it to you to look cute for the hynas, Juni! How could you drop it? Where did you drop it?!" He demanded through gritted teeth.

Juni looked at him wide-eyed, wincing at the loud bangs of the gunshots. "Over by the truck, i swear to God I didn't mean to! I was just hauling ass over here!"

The gang member who had shot at Juni was firing at the car moving on it as he did so shooting out the back left window. Pablo rolled out and fired from the ground, hitting the guy with two shots, both of which hit the man in the abdomen and one lodged into his spleen, the other near the kidney. Pablo fired again and hit him directly in the center of the blue bandanna tied around his forehead like a head band or a sweat band the way pro ball players did. "Pinche Mara puta! TK all day, joto! DPL, motherfucker!"

Another gang member was in sight and Pablo fired again and the guy ran to cover but not before Pablo hit him at least once in the back. Piernas pursued the same gang member and let loose with the Mini Uzi. He fired off fifteen rounds which raked the side of the car the rival gangster had ducked behind, a navy blue perennial, and he fired through the back windshield and raked it through the back seat windows and saw the MT gang members blood stain the back seats as he hit him with four rounds in the temple. "What now? Fuckin Trucha maricon! Not so tough now, pendejo!"

He spotted the remaining gang member from the Hermes and the guy had taken fire from the Vago in the LS hat. He emptied the rest of the magazine at the car and saw the man's dark blue T shirt stained with blood, from the left side of his chest above the breast, to his arm pit to his shoulder-blade. "Vagos run the streets, homie! Always will!"

A Trucha who had taken cover near the back of his own car fired a Tec 9 and hit the gangster in the LS hat and sprayed at Piernas. Piernas took a round in the side but he got to cover in time. The banger in the LS hat fell to the ground on his back but he attempted to sit up still firing at the rival. He hit the _Trucha_ with one round in the right side of the stomach but at the exact same time, the Trucha emptied what remained of the 32 round mag into his chest and face.

The last five rounds of it took off a chunk of his jaw. Smiley blindly fired from cover and hit the man in the right shin with the shotgun. He had been blindly firing to scatter the enemies and he had finally hit one. The guy howled in pain as he hit the ground his leg blown in half, bone protruding as blood covered the concrete around him. "Ahhhh! My fucking leg! Dios mio! Mama!"

Smiley growled pumping for the last shot and declared, "That's not gonna hurt in a second, pinche leva!" He fired aiming clearly and hit the gang banger in the face and blew his head in half, his skull splitting apart, blood going in almost every direction, spinal fluid as well and bone fragments hit the ground and broke more as his broken chunks of skull and brain matter split on the boardwalk.

Delores saw that there were only two Truchas left from among those who were attacking them from the direction of the street. She fired off all that remained in her clip, aiming but somewhat going crazy as she hit one of them in the back as he went for cover. He took seven rounds in the back. Most of the others had gone wild.

She reloaded and as the gang member twitched she contemplated finishing him with a head shot to the back of the head but then decided to save ammo. _Fuck him. Let him suffer his last moments..._she thought coldly as she drew a bead on the other one. He returned fire from cover but missed her. She fired at the only thing she could see. His left elbow. She hit him and saw the nasty wound and heard him shriek like an angry owl. She fired two more rounds as she got around to him, and she hit him twice near his right rib cage.

The wounded gang member, though near death, rolled over on his back and with one hand, fired his own Glock at her and he hit Delores in the left shoulder. He fired again but only grazed her forearm. "Asshole!" She screamed and fired another shot, this one going into his throat. He died, letting out a choking noise blood coming from his mouth.

Meanwhile toward the end of the dock, Rivera had made it to where his boat was docked and he fired and hit the gang member he had wounded and the guy fell, bleeding to death, out of range of further damage but still left to face his own critical injuries without help. His guard was hit from behind by another Trucha in a baklava with an M-16. The guard went down and before his last guard returned fire but was hit by rounds in the waist and near the rib cage before he could shoot the Trucha so his own shots went wild, his MP5 clattering to the ground. Rivera got the boat started and began to take off. The Trucha attempted to pursue but he fired the fully reloaded 32 round mag at him and the gang member stayed behind the railing to avoid being shot and Rivera took off.

The last Trucha fired his Assault Rifle at all the Vagos forcing them to cover. Juni saw him get into the truck and could see that the keys were still in the engine. He saw Juni chasing him and he fired a burst at him forcing the kid to duck behind the back of the truck but the Assault Rifle went dry and he went back inside of it. Juni gave chase after the truck as it started to drive off. Delores fired her pistol at the truck attempting to shoot the driver through the back window but the man ducked on instinct. Juni ran after the truck as did Pablo and Delores kept shooting but Juni had grabbed onto the bumper. He grinned as he pulled himself up but tried to stay just low enough to not get seen. He fished under the tarp and tossed a kilo of cocaine to Delores and yelled, "Got one!"

Pablo yelled at him. "No! Idiota! Leave it in the truck! We need to have it there or the pigs will find it!"

Juni disagreed. "They're gonna get away with it if i don't! Keep catching I'll grab more!" He tossed another and Delores caught it. _Two down eighteen to go..._she thought bitterly. Juni had retrieved the .25 but was holding it all wrong. Pablo ran ahead of her and he started to try to climb through the back of the truck to get closer to the driver. Unfortunately the driver saw what he was up to in the rear view mirror and he had an extra firearm.

A .500 Magnum. He pointed the gun at him with one hand. It was not the kind of gun to just fire and hold like a rapper in the video but at such a close range it would not matter. He fired and hit Juni in the abdomen. Delores's heart skipped a beat as she heard the boys horrified scream. He fired again and he fell off the back off the truck rolling in the middle of the street and the truck sped off but not before Pablo fired every last round at the man. He saw a bullet go through the back window and hit the man in the right shoulder causing him to swerve the truck but despite the flesh wound, he regained control and sped off down the intersection headed out the area.

Pablo rushed to his friends side and held his head. The boy stared up at him with weakened eyes, blood on his lips coming out of his mouth. "My...my...parents...are gonna kill me..."Juni said before coughing hard, sputtering and then turning his head to the side and after one more harsh cough, death rattled in his throat and he was gone.

Pablo fought back angry tears in his eyes. He grabbed the limp boy trying to lift him up. Smiley appeared behind him and attempted to pull him away. "Come on, chico we gotta get the fuck outta here!"

Pablo fought the tears still but a single tear rolled down his cheek. "We gotta get him to a hospital man!" Smiley insisted pulling the younger gangster to his feet. "He's dead, man! That kind of gun would put a hole the size of a kitten in an elephant! We gotta go, man before the chotas get here! There's nothing we can do for him now, Ese! We gotta go or we'll be joining him!"

Delores and Smiley got him up but he angrily cursed, "Those conos are gonna fucking pay! I'll kill em! I got that guy on the shoulder, Del, you saw it didn't ya? I'm gonna do worse than that. Just you wait..." They rushed back to their respective vehicles. Smiley got in the Willard and so did Piernas and Spider. Pablo, Gabriel, and Pablo piled in the back seat while Delores drove. For once, Piernas was not his usual wise cracking self. He had a look of sorrow on his face. Delores had thought he was just being an asshole for calling Juni a punk. That he was just being a bully, a predator like he had been raised to be but in the end he was right. Juni had not been cut out for the gang life.

They drove back to the barrio in silence, Delores wishing she could say something to comfort her brother, anything but at the same time she couldn't help but to think that maybe that would help him see it. Many gang members were given the lifestyle and introduced into it by older bangers but Pablo had made the choice to join a gang. While Delores had done the same, and therefore was in no position to tell him what to do since she was no less of a youth than he was, even if she was older than him by a couple of years. She had enough responsibility to admit she may have made the wrong choice and because she had seen that path, she wanted to help Pablo avoid that same fate.

Still, in her mind she had an internal argument with herself. _What does it matter if he saw his homie die today? Cmon girl, do you really think that will get him to stop banging? Even before he started repping our varrio, he had homies that were in the cliqua and he lost them to the street so if that didn't stop him, Juni getting killed won't either. _

They reached the hood and she dropped off Piernas, Smiley, and Spider who all lived in the same house that had a view of Pacific Lake. Much of the area had been gentrified but a lot was still ghetto and as always the Vagos represented for their neighborhood even as some affluent white people tried to move in, usually something that always followed gentrification, the ever presence of gang violence scared many of them away but others had stayed and just relied on the police for their own protection. For that reason, there were hostilities between white residents and Hispanic residents. The basis overall feeling was, who do these gringos think they are to come live in our neighborhood and then have the nerve to bitch about it being bad?

It was only because affluent white people from the richer side of West Los Santos, that people even knew what kind of shit went down in Douglass Park. The police treated them nice but Latinos were treated like animals. They got out of the car, said farewell and walked inside. Delores took the car two blocks away and left in idling in a back alley and walked back to the apartment she lived in with Pablo. She tossed her house keys on the table and did not even make it to her bedroom before she crashed. She just plopped down on the couch and passed out there, not even changing into her usual pajamas she had bought from lingerie stores or at least to where a night-gown. She just passed out then and there, fully clothed.

_Two Days Later..._

_Machine Gun Diplomacy_

She walked through down town Los Santos. She just needed a walk. She had actually walked here from Douglass Park. She wore a black blouse with shiny designs on it that she had bought the previous day. Everybody had their vices and she was a sucker for new clothes. She wore a sparkly black top that she had bought from Anna Rex on 6th street. She also wore a blue skirt as well as some stocking for her legs and some new shoes, metallic leather, that were easier to walk in than your average heels. To top it off, she had a pair of sunglasses on, fitting for the warm LS weather, and she had her brown purse which was cheap and old but had served her well.

It was in the purse that she kept her gun and a brown bandanna. She had her hair tied back in a pony tail instead of wearing it out like she normally did. As she walked down the street, a red car, a top down red Feltzer convertible, pulled up to her. Two men in their twenties were inside of it, both Caucasian, both looking to be upper or middle class, the guy driving was a man with dark hair and brown eyes, and he wore a silk striped shirt and a pair of black slacks. The other was a male with sandy colored hair, ULS baseball cap, a maroon Letterman's jacket, blue jeans, and he had menacing blue eyes.

He wolf whistled as he saw her and had his friend slowly follow her. "Hey, sweetheart, where ya going? You need a ride?"

She scoffed at what he said but cracked a smile. "I didn't tell ya? Then its none of your business! Besides who said I'm a sweet heart? You don't know me at all."

The driver grinned. "Aw come on, turn that frown upside down, miss! My buddy is a great guy once you get to know him. I'm sure you are a sweetheart deep down. No need to get angry."

Delores corrected him, "I'm not angry. You would know if i was. i'm just saying its a little pathetic of your friend to try to start a conversation with somebody the way he was. If you really are his friend, you should better advise him on how to talk to women. A start would be, letting him know you don't call a strange woman sweet heart. Also it wouldn't kill him to find a different approach. Offering a stranger a ride is a big red flag in most cases."

The man snorted and turned his nose up. "You aint good enough for me anyway, bitch. Go enjoy your welfare check."

Delores grinned and said, "Oh yeah, assuming I'm on welfare is gonna get you results!" Her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Why don't you go even more cliche and assume I'm a Lesbian just because I'm not responding to your advances?"

The guy rolled his eyes. "Why don't we just cut to the chase? How much? Every woman has a price so don't even try to tell me otherwise."

She laughed. "You're really barking up the wrong tree, mister. Besides, is there any money you have that wasn't handed to you by your parents? Too bad they didn't buy you your own car that way you don't have to take advantage of your friend for his car on a daily basis. I don't like the small chorizos anyway."

The guy just looked at his friend and said, "Let's get out of here. To hell with this anchor baby."

Delores normally would have told him to fuck off but today she was having a shitty day. She had gone to buy new clothes hoping that looking good and starting the day on a more positive note would lighten her up. She removed her pistol from her purse and pointed the gun at the driver. "You...out," The man got out in a fear, his eyes wide. "Are you serious?"

The man's friend attempted to get out too and she pointed the gun at him. "Not you. Stay right where you are or I'll shoot. You and I are going for a ride for your smart mouth."

The man did as he was told and she got into the driver's seat and floored it. With her right hand, she trained the gun on him while steering with her left hand. "No sudden moves, motherfucker or I'll blow your brains all over that stupid Letterman's jacket. Your mami should have taught you how to speak to a woman!"

The man looked scared shitless and Delores warned him, "Don't think because I'm not looking at you I won't shoot I still have my eyes on you so don't even think about trying to pull anything like trying to crash the car so that you can get away. You'll regret it if you do. If you remain cool, calm and collected, you might just live to see another day."

She saw that he had a cell phone and contemplated throwing it out the window but realized she might need it. _Matter of fact..._she thought. She pulled the car over and still kept the gun trained on the college frat guy and he kept his hand up in fear of the Latin gang member. "Don't move, maricon. Keep very fucking still."

She was looking at him while she tied her brown bandanna around her face covering almost all it but her eyes and everything above it. "Jesus...whatever you say, lady just please don't kill me! What are you going to do?"

She had the rag tied on and she took off again. "You just worry about your own ass, moron. You really picked the wrong day to piss me off. I suspect i'll be getting the call I'm waiting for in a minute here."

She turned the radio to Radio Los Santos. The song I Got Luv by Nate Dogg played. She drove through the Artist District of downtown. She needed to find another area or at least stay away from the pigs long enough to get what she wanted. After that, as the song ended, the man attempted to grab the steering wheel but she hit him on the side of the head with the gun. The man cried out in pain as she did and he cowered as far as he could from her which was not that far considering they were in the same car.

She punched him in the nose and saw that she made him bleed. "I told you not to fuck with me. Don't try that again I'm only gonna warn you once. After that, I'm gonna tie you to the front of the car and play chicken with oncoming traffic. Comprende?"

The man nodded whimpering. "It was just a joke...! I didn't think you would seriously go crazy like this! What the hell is wrong with you?"

As the song was over, the news came on. _"This is John Tamany, Weazel News, live at the scene of a shootout that took place just two days ago in the Port Of Los Santos. It was at first unknown to the L.S.P.D. what the violence was over it is believed to be a drug deal gone badly. At least three bodies have been ID'd as Colombian nationals. Police also are running as many ID's as they can as of this moment and at least two of the bodies are believed to have been affiliated with the notorious Mara Truchas gang. We have no further information as to the shooters still at large. In other news, a gang related shooting in the Baldwin Aldea neighborhood leaving five dead including one innocent bystander, one Mamadu Berry an immigrant from Africa, who was hit at point-blank by a shotgun blast to the head. A sixth man was wounded, one, Robert Kline, a member of the Baldwin Aldea Ballas, and is in critical condition."_

The reporter concluded, "_Its getting worse out there. Gang membership is higher than ever in Los Santos and the shooters are still at large. The suspects were described as two Hispanic males accompanied by another Hispanic driver. They were driving a gray Moonbeam. If you have any information as to the where about of the shooters, please dial our hotline at 1800-555-6969. This is John Tamany, Weazel news."_

The man speaking seemed to think his mic was off. "_Good god, those damn hooligans! Who do they think they are? You know this is who we should really focus our efforts on. Gangs in Urban L.S. send the troops into Ganton, Jefferson, Idlewood and East L.S. have the Marines light those peasant leeches up. If they're nott going to contribute to society, we should send in the soldiers and anybody in our way should be mowed down."_

The camera woman warned him, "_Um...John...? Your mic is still on..."_

The news reporter sounded nervous. _"Oh...well...we can edit that part out, right?"_

A male voice approached in the background. "_The hell you say? I say we bank his ass right here!"_

Another voice with a Central American accent, "Horale, I'm from East Los! Get him!"

The sound of running could be heard in the middle of the news which was still recording. The man was clearly running from them and the camera woman yelled, _"Keep after them! Make sure we get all this on camera. I'll get a raise for sure!"_

_"Stop chasing, me bitches! I work for a living! Stop chasing me or I'll stop being so generous when i pay for your welfare when I play taxes!" _The sound of a glass bottle breaking was heard and the man cried out in pain._ "Goddamn it! I got my blood on this new suit way to go! Thanks a lot!"_

If Delores were not already caught up in driving the car she had just stolen with a passenger still in it, she would be laughing at that news report on the radio. She heard sirens and knew the cops were soon to be onto her. Just then, the cell phone of the frat boy she had taken hostage was going off and she picked it up. "Hello?"

A male voice said, "This is John Schultz of the L.S.P.D. You have an individual captive. One, Chad Mathers. I'm gonna have to ask you to pull over and turn yourself in. This could get ugly if you don't do what I tell you."

Delores stubbornly said, "No, let me tell you how it is. I want some money in exchange for this asshole. Fifteen hundred. I won't let him go for any less than that."

The cop sighed and said, "Where?"

Delores told him, "I know how you chotas are about setting up tricks to arrest people when they do a hostage exchange. So I know you'll all be tailing me within a minute or so. Here is what we are going to do. You and the guy who called the police, and nobody else, are going to pull up alongside of me, and toss the money from your car to mine in a bag."

John was angry. "How do I know you'll keep your word and let him go if I do?"

Delores explained, "Its simple. You guys can follow me until the exchange. Then you let me drive one hundred meters ahead of you and I will drop Chad off. Once he is out you can all come and try to get me all you want. That is fair..."

John sighed. "All right, kid. I hope you know what you're doing! Don't fuck me over on this."

Sure enough the cop cars were behind her, trying to catch up to her. Chad was cowering down and he said, "You're fucking insane...they're gonna kill you, you know that right?"

A plain car, a gray Washington tailed them and got alongside of them. A Caucasian male with gray hair, looking to be in his mid to late fifties was driving alongside of them and he had the kid whom Delores had car jacked. The guy tossed a duffel bag toward her and she yelled to the older guy who she assumed was John, "Now you wait for me. You hold your boys back until I have a hundred meters between us! If your people try to go back on your word I'll shoot this puta and toss his body out of the car while I'm still driving!"

The flashing lights, as well as John's civilian vehicle stayed back while she drove ahead twenty feet. "One last job for you, cabron! Check this money for dye packs and make sure they don't have a tracking device in there. I aint letting you out until you do it and don't try anything funny. You still got a gun on you."

Indeed she did have her gun trained on his lower abdomen. He did as she said and she watched him spilt the stacked bills apart. He went through each stack and he ended up finding one dye pack and one tracking device. "Motherfucker..." She hissed.

Chad was bawling like a baby at this point. "Oh god, you're gonna fucking kill me aren't you?!"

Delores smiled. "You're an idiot jock strap and a chauvinist pig but its not your fault they tried that. Its theirs and they'll be the ones who have to pay for it. So here's what you're gonna do. I'm gonna pull up to the agreed spot and let you out but you're gonna hold the tracking device in one hand and the dye pack in the other, all right?"

He agreed. "Thank you! Jesus...thank you!" Delores shrugged his words off and said, "Just learn how to talk to women better. This isn't Middle School, all right?"She pulled up to let him out. "Oh, Chad, one more thing?" He stopped midway of getting out of the car and she decked him in the face. He whimpered and fell out on his ass and she handed him both the tracking device and the dye pack. "That was for calling me an anchor baby."

He carried them just like he asked and she pulled away and she could see in the rear view mirror that they were running forth to get him secure. Three patrol cars were hot on her tail but that was okay. She just had to shake them, something she had done many times in the past, and she would be just fine.

She observed her surroundings. She wasn't far from Little Mexico, overlapping into downtown Los Santos. She sped up and they kept after her. _"This is your last chance! Pull over and come out with your hands on your head!"_ She disobeyed their command and drove down several streets running a red light and she found a freeway entrance which she pulled onto. A cop got on the left side of her and attempted a pit manuever but she knew how to not get pitted. The driver of the cop car gritted his teeth. "I gotta admit, this bitch can drive!"

Delores smiled as she remembered who had taught her how to drive. Her father had been one of the best drivers around. He had worked various driving jobs around East Los Santos and he had taught her how to drive rather than taking her to drivers ed because today, they charged money for that. It didn't matter, their familia may have been poor but they were together and he had taught her how to drive better than any drivers Ed teacher could. He had been a drag racer back home in Mexico before migrating to the US. She had not seen him in a long time. He had been deported when she was seventeen.

She had always said her father was the best driver around and she still said that. She was his best student all though he had also taught Pablo to drive too. He hadn't cared about many of the laws that they had in the US. San Andreas used to be Mexico at one time and in Mexico kids learned to start driving at earlier ages especially in farming communities. She saw a truck up ahead and began to tail it as the police cars tailed her.

_"Pull off the freeway and pull over! We are not going to hurt you!"_

Delores did not heed their warning and as she followed the truck she couldn't help but think, _I aint a chota but I'm pretty sure that aint a good way to get people to pull over! _

She ducked down as a police officer squeezed off several shots at the back of the car. She ducked down and at least three rounds hit the front windshield. One of them was trying to take her out, a cop was leaning out of the window trying to fire at her and another rolled up to her and a cop was racking a shotgun yelling to the driver, "God damn this bitch can drive! Get me alongside her so i can get a shot!"

He pulled up alongside and her and Delores saw him drawing a bead on her. She rammed into the car and the guy almost fell out of the car. He dropped the shotgun out onto the freeway. Delores stayed after the same truck which was maneuvering to another lane on the right. She drove straight toward it knowing that wherever she went, the cops would so she went under the trailer which was just high enough that she would make it.

She hit the manuever just right and served under it. The cop car right behind her, the one who had fired on her already, plowed right into it and she heard the crash behind her. As she came out of the other end she floored it and peeled up the highway. The cop who had shot at her was decapitated by the trailer and so was the driver. The top of the car was taken off of it as glass and fiber glass and bent metal was everywhere. The glass was turned red as they did so. The two nearest cop cop cars also hit the back of it. The trailer disconnected and it swiped up all the cop cars that had chased her sending one of them rolling while another was smashed into and a police officer went flying out of the windshield and bounced all over the freeway before he was hit by more cars swerving to avoid him.

She looked in the rear view mirror at the chaos she had just caused. _Jesus...I just did all that and i was just trying to get away..._She got off the freeway and headed into Idlewood where the same old Pay N Spray still was. She got it resprayed. This took six hours and by the time it got out it was light blue. She pulled out of the shop and began to head back to the barrio. She got a call on her cell phone and saw Peaches was the one ringing her. "Hello? What's up, Peach?"

Peaches was cheery as usual. "Nothing much what are you up to? Listen, Del can you come by the neighborhood? My house. We got some business to talk about. Smiley suggested it and I think he might have a point. I'll explain more when you get here."

Delores protested, "Hold on I haven't even said if I'm gonna be there yet! You can't tell me now?" Though she knew Smiley was a good leader, she couldn't imagine what it was. Or why Peaches was the one calling her about it. "What kind of business?"

Peaches replied, "I can't tell you, mija not on the phone! Just get here and we'll talk at my flat," Delores sighed but she was down for her barrio so she agreed. "Okay I'll be there as soon as I can be."

She drove out to Douglass Park once again. She knew the city like she knew the back of her hands. First, she knew she would need to buy ammo for whatever it was she was going to need to do. She headed out of Idlewood and drove to downtown Los Santos. She put the radio station on. Nothing but commercials was playing on her favorite radio stations which was Radio Los Santos , a West Coast Hip Hop station that had been around for years,and 97.9 Spice FM which was Latin music that had come out recently.

She changed it to Radio X and the song Estranged by Gun N Roses was playing. As she listened to the music she knew that if she was playing this in the hood she would get teased. Guys like Piernas or even Spider would say that's gringo music. Her belief was that music was music no matter what but Spider would often ask her, "How many gringos knew who Richie Valence was? Or Santana? Not many, I can promise you that!"

In a way she could see his point. He was saying that the open mind to music was not a two-way street so why would she, a homegirl from the barrio, have any desire to listen to music that gringos listened to in the suburbs? Certainly, nobody in the ghetto listened to that kind of music. She couldn't figure out if it was the class aspect of it that made them close their minds off to the music or if it was the racial demographic of people who listened to it?

Maybe it was both. However as much as Piernas and Spider and some homies tended to have prejudice toward Caucasians and African-Americans, one contradiction she noticed was they didn't complain about rap but then again, it might have been out of respect for Smiley and not wanting to get kicked out of his house or his car when they were with him.

It didn't matter who you were or where you came from. The universal rule was, the driver picked the music and the passengers shut the hell up. She pulled up to the Ammu Nation and went inside. The man behind the counter, a man with a blonde flat top greeted her. "How you doing? What can I do for you, today, miss?"

She told him, "I need to buy some ammunition. 10mm, please."

He nodded and got the magazine shelf opened and asked, "How much are you looking for?" The handgun magazines had fifteen rounds per magazine. Delores had misplaced the spare mag she had back at the shootout at Ocean Docks so whatever she had left in the gun was it. Handgun magazines costed $35 per mag. She told him, "I'll take five, please. Also, how much for a shotgun?" She knew she was being clever. A permit was required to buy a new handgun but for a shotgun or for handgun ammo, none was required.

He said, "Can I see some Identification, please?" She showed him her state ID. He asked, "What can i get for you today, Ms. Fortuna?"

She pointed to the Ithaca 37 shotgun. "I'll take that one." He brought it toward her and said, "Will that be cash or credit?" She held up the money. "Cash."

He shrugged. "All right, that'll be twelve hundred." She paid him and as she did she realized that was all but three hundred of the money she got for the hostage she had taken in the Feltzer. _That's a good thing. I just exchanged money so now most of it won't be on me even if they do catch me._

She left the store with the weapons and got back in the car. She ejected the magazine she had and loaded up a new handgun ammo had cost her $175 and the extra shells for the shotgun had cost her $100 more. That left only twenty-five dollars left of the ransom money. She smiled at the irony of that and she began to drive back to Douglass Park. She admired the new shotgun. It was the riot model and it even had a pistol grip. She pulled up to the house within fifteen minutes. She got out and knocked on the door. Peaches answered it. "Hola, Delores! Come on in! We got business to discuss."

She had her hair done up in Indian braids. As usual, Peaches looked pretty, like a super model. She was dressed like a male cholo today though as often, many cholas had in the 90's. She wore a black checkered plaid jacket and a pair of tight fitting black jeans. On top of that she had red lip stick. Gabriel and Spider were chilling in the house and so was Smiley and the three of them passed a blunt around. Smiley passed the blunt to Peaches and she took a hit off of it. Delores addressed the four gang members. "So what's going on? You guys called me here. What did you need?"

Smiley blew smoke and he sniffed. "Well...like we've all been talking about for a while now, the Vagos got too many enemies and not enough friends on the streets. We could just as easily be allied with the Matones but my problem with that is I don't want the Mexican Mafia passing down all their rules on our cliqua. We're an autonomous crew. Every Vago cliqua is. So that leaves our options to one gang only. A former enemy. The Rollers. See they've been in the dope gang for a while now. Back in the days when they were the Orange Grove Families, they claimed to be anti coka but that was bullshit. Only one neighborhood lived by that and they aint shit anymore. Their biggest honcho, the guy who helped the Families take back the city, he was a hot-shot. He had business's in San Fierro, in Venturas, all over the place."

Smiley looked at each person around the room. "This vato, he was a real business man. He had the same morals as his brother did about coka but even in their own neighborhood, people were slinging. There was only so many times he could cap the dealers. As far as other sets went he had no say in how they ran their neighborhoods. That was what got set tripping in the families started anyway. This vato, he made a lot of money, that was how they started getting called the Rollers around the mid nineties, cause he was a High Roller and he started spreading the wealth around in his own hood and other hoods so his cliqua could buy guns to fight off the Ballas, to fight the south siders, even us. That guy got killed last year. Nobody knows who did it yet. "

Peaches blew smoke and handed it back to him but he declined. "He'd been banging so long and he'd lived through it. He was an old school Roller. That fool was banging since the eighties. Now he was always an enemy around here but I gotta respect the heart he had, he stayed down for his. He's dead now though. He tried to keep a lid on ever on sets trying to sling, cause feria talks but he couldn't stop the drug flow. We'd been at war with them for so long, and cool with the Ballas, it never occurred to us they sling just as much as the Ballas do. Since the Ballas screwed us over, we might give them a shot. Knowing they hate the Ballas as much as we do. Longer than we have."

Gabriel scoffed. "Fuck that, homes I aint rolling with any mayates. They can all die, homes. I would rather get down with Matones and just snuff them all out than roll with another gang that's bound to fuck us over. The Matones, they maybe punks, but maybe we can work something out? They are raza after all. That's what it should be about first and foremost right?"

The gang leader scowled at them and said, "Piernas control yourself, perro. We gotta at least try. Sometimes the enemy of your enemy is your friend. The Matones can keep their rules. Maybe it would have been a problem to do business with the Rollers if CJ was still alive or if his brother wasn't a has been nobody. Since it's not that way, the Rollers can't rely on their rich underboss who was Madd Dogg's manager. They have to hustle to eat just like we always have."

Spider stood up too. "I'm with you all the way bro, but I don't know about this shit with the Rollers. I mean these vatos have been at war with us forever, homes! The Ballas were our allies but that was then, this is now. The war is going down on the street and everybody knows it. Brown vs Black. If we're the only gang in town that doesn't kill mayates on sight we're gonna look like levas. Chale. I aint with it."

Peaches crossed her arms. "What do you think we should do? If you want to meet up and try to set up a business partnership with the Rollers, shouldn't we have something specific in mind? I mean, why them? Why not just make nice with the Matones? Cause like Piernas always says, the Mexican Mafia will be the ones running things in the prisons anyway and regardless of what barrio you come from, you don't fight your own and you pay taxes but in return you're under their protection, right?"

Smiley looked to Peaches and curiously questioned her. "What are you trying to tell me, Peaches? What we shouldn't come to an understanding? Look, I want to stop fighting among La Raza too but at the same time, the Truchas, the Matones, especially the ones from El Corona, they've given me shit for a long time. Giving us shit. They took most of our hoods back in the 90's when they did the same thing the Rollers did. I remember when the Aztecas didn't touch blow. Still there was always independent barrios that always was down for the South Side, that always hustled for feria."

Peaches was frustrated. "I'm saying, we'll be making more enemies than we gain. Both from Matones and everybody else. The Rollers have a lot of enemies you know. Its fine I'm with you, I'll take one for the team but I just hope you know what you're doing. That it's gonna have a good outcome."

Gabriel laughed as he blew out smoke putting the blunt out finally. "Sabes que last time i checked, you took two for the team, que no?" This got a loud laugh out of Spider who slapped him dap as he knew that she was referring to her initiation.

She snapped, "Fuck you, Gabriel! ¡Usted imbécil juzgatorio! Keep it to yourself or get outta my house. I mean it, get the fuck out of here!"

Piernas snorted. "Whatever, I aint with this lame ass party anyway. You go ahead without me, Smiley. I aint ever cool with niggers. Fuck the Rollers and the Ballas. They all fucking with us..cmon Spider. Let's ditch this popsicle stand."

Delores followed him outside. "Hold up, P! I gotta ask you something!" They headed out onto the porch. She looked at the bald gang banger and asked him, "How's my brother holding up? He aint been around the apartment in a couple of days. I just figured he's crashing with homies around the neighborhood and you guys. How is he?"

Piernas lost the joyous look on his face from having pissed off Peaches and frowned. "Del, he's pretty torn up about his homie from the other day, you know? The little Ese was young I guess I was hard on him but I can tell when a vato aint cut for the life. Pablo, all he's been talking about is getting revenge. We're still fighting the Truchas for this varrio too. That's all he talks about all day. I know he's a warrior but can't let this shit get you down. It's just life. People die. I'll try to talk to him if you want."

She looked at him. "Si. Tell him not to grow up too fast and that he can always come home and talk to his big sister. I know just what to say."

Piernas agreed. "Si mon. Hey can I get a hug or what?" They hugged and he said, "Also...sorry about your mom. You been down to the homeland to see your papi yet? You probably should."

She shook her head. "No. Not yet. It's been too long I have no idea what he's been doing or why he hasn't tried to come back here. He should have though but too much time has passed. I hope he's okay."

Piernas and Spider headed out to the street and he said, "I'm sure he is. Hey you take care all right, mija? Don't let this world kill your smile. It aint ever that bad, que no?"

She smirked at that. She went back inside. Peaches looked to her. "So I guess it's decided. We're gonna give the Rollers a chance. You and I need to go see Spooky. He'd the one who knows some of the Rollers. Or I should say, he knew them back before they started banging and when everybody used to be cool before all this race war shit went down. Delores, can you drive me there?"

Delores nodded. "I just bought a new shotty just in case. Let's roll. Wait, what are we going to be doing over there with the Rollers? I don't hate them for the same reasons as Piernas and Spider do but I still don't like the idea of peace with some people who have tried to kill us before. Plus we're on their turf how do we know it's not a set up?"

Peaches assured her, "We don't but we're strapped. By the way hermana, you shouldn't use that new shotgun you just bought At least not on the same day. They will trace it back to you if you do. All I gotta say is, let's just give you something else to roll with for today. You ever fired a Uzi before?" Delores shook her head since she had not. The truth was, though Delores had initially judged Peaches when she had first gotten to know her due to her having been fucked into the set, she had thought it was because she was a leva that couldn't take a beating but she had been wrong.

Plus even while Delores had gone and shot people plenty of times, up until that tweaker who had tried to kill her a week ago she had never actually killed. She had only wounded. Peaches however, had killed plenty of times before that. She used her good looks to seduce as they had recently and she often could go from being sweet and friendly to a dangerous killer if the wrong button was pushed. The home boys loved that about her. Peaches went into her house and brought her one.

She showed her how to handle it and instructed her, "It's just like a pistola but you gotta watch this thing. It gives off a hell of a kick. Here is two magazines for it, just be careful to aim, cause even with this bad boy spraying it can mean the difference between life and death. Let's roll, chica!" They got into the Feltzer and Smiley bid them farewell as he left the house just as Spider and Piernas had. They began to drive to Idlewood where Spooky was.

Delores turned to her and said, "You aint nervous about all of this? You still didn't answer my question about what it is we are gonna do with the Rollers. We need to be careful. They've been Vago Killas for a long time, Peach. Serio. They tag it on their walls even."

Peaches informed her, "I don't know what we're going to do yet but Spooky is gonna be the one who tells us, remember? Since he knew those guys. Don't worry about a thing, D. I've got your back 100%. We're homegirls! Por vida!" With that, she turned on the radio station and surfed through it. Normally, Delores wouldn't be cool with somebody handling her radio but since it was Peaches and they had similar music tastes, she let it slide. She turned the radio station to Spice FM. The song Amor Prohibido by Selena played.

This got a smile on Peaches face. That was their song, and Selena was their girl. Peaches began to sing along to it as they drove through the hood headed downtown.

"Con unas ansias locas quiero verte hoy  
Espero ese momento en que escuche tu voz  
Y cuando al fin estemos juntos los dos  
Qué importa qué dirán tu padre y tu mamá  
Aquí sólo importa nuestro amor, te quiero

Amor prohibido murmuran por las calles  
Porque somos de distintas sociedades  
Amor prohibido nos dice todo el mundo  
El dinero no importa en ti y en mí, ni en el corazón"

Peaches stood up in the car, indicating she had not yet strapped her seat belt on and shouted, "Oh, oh baby!" The only English words in the entire song. She looked at Delores with a smile on her face as she was moving to the music. "Come on, girlfriend! Sing that shit! You know you want to!" Delores was fighting to keep a smile from her face, it just was not the right time to be in good spirits. _With Carlos dead, mi mijo gone, my papi deported, mama gone and now Pablo going crazy, i just see no reason to smile. _She thought but regardless, she did smile because Peaches had an infectious smile and her good moods were always radiant. Peaches turned the song up.

Delores finally gave in.

"unque soy pobre todo esto que te doy  
Vale más que el dinero porque sí es amor  
Y cuando al fin estemos juntos, los dos  
Qué importa qué dirán, también la sociedad  
Aquí sólo importa nuestro amor, te quiero

Amor prohibido murmuran por las calles  
Porque somos de distintas sociedades  
Amor prohibido nos dice todo el mundo  
El dinero no importa en ti y en mí, ni en el corazón"

As she sang so did Peaches. When they got to the end of those words, they both, in unison, yelled "OH, Oh BABY!" They both laughed and Peaches nudged her and said, "See? That's the spirit! You gotta lighten up!"

Delores smiled for the first time in a while ear to ear. "You're right homie. Gracias," They pulled up to 106th street in Idlewood within twenty five minutes. There they spotted Spooky and he was fixing up his car with some other guy, a bald Hispanic man she did not recognize. They were working on a 64' Savannah, dark blue in color, the hood was popped. As the two women got out, they could see that though the car seemed to have a problem, the radio was still playing as the song Low Rider by War filled the warm air, a seemingly fitting song for the type of car Spooky drove.

Spooky was a lanky man of Central American ancestry. He had dark eyes that always seemed to be deep in thought, long black hair which he kept tied back in a pony tail, and he was muscular despite his thin frame. He stood six-foot three. His real name was Victor Perez but he went by Spooky because he was able to sneak up on people easily as he was very light-footed. He looked like your stereotypical Indian but dressed in contemporary clothes. He wore a black T shirt two sizes two big for him and baggy stone washed jeans. He also had a brown bandanna hanging off his right shoulder. He was a homie of Delores's and he was good people.

He was of Lenca Indian descent, originally from El Salvador but he had come to the US when he was twelve. He was now twenty-four. The other man, who Delores assumed was another Vago, wore a white T shirt and creased khakis. He had a black bandanna tied around his head like a head band. "Que pasa, chicas? Como esta? How is life treating you?" Peaches hugged the tall man. So did Delores and he said, "I haven't seen the two of you since Carlos's funeral. I'm muy muy sorry about him, Del. The baby too."

Delores nodded not wanting to say anything. Spooky pointed to the gang member with him. "This is my homeboy Little Spitz. Peaches, you know him remember? We kicked it a few times. He's from this neighborhood. Been out here trying to see if this vato can fix my car and shit. So far, nada."

Peaches did remember. "Yeah, he's that guy from the Tiny Winos. I remember you. You were that guy dropping rhymes at all those parties," The Tiny Winos were a Vagos cliqua in Idlewood. It was not a usual place that they had turf in a black area as much of their sets sprouted up closer to near Unity Station downtown, Douglass Park, and several other places with mostly Hispanic populations. Since they were in such close proximity to the black gangs of Idlewood they were on of the gangs that got to fight Ballas and Rollers more often than not where as Douglass Park was often fighting Truchas and various Matone factions.

Idlewood was still mostly Baller city but a few neighborhoods were owned by the Rollers too but they were outnumbered by the Ballas in Idlewood. "Oye, so here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna drive over to Ganton. Got some homies i used to know from Nutty Hood. Let's just say, while we may not wanna be too quick to trust them, we should give em a chance. They got some Ballas they wanna smash on in Ganton and the guy I know said there's a mutual interest in it since those Ballas in particular are bitter enemies with them and we aint cool with any Ballas anymore. He must know something I don't about that set though if he thinks there's something in it for us too," Spooky announced.

He shook hands with Delores. "Si. That's me. I'm underground though I aint even close to blowing up yet but I think I'll make my mark soon. I'm too real to fail."

Delores leaned against her own car and shrugged. "If you work hard enough at it, I'm sure you will. I just hope since you're repping the Vagos you'll keep it gangsta don't let the record companies tell you what to do. They'll try to get you to be like the mainstreams that rap about nothing but money and bitches while at the same time, shitting on poor people. My advice? Never do any of those. Just tell the truth about where you come from. It aint gonna be easy but eventually people will hear you if you're making rolas that are bumping."

Spitz smiled. "Si mon. That's what I'm gonna do. Rap about the Wood, mi barrio. I'll rap about the brothers and sisters that were in La Causa, que no? Brown Berets. I don't care what anybody says I'll reach my intended audience. That's all that really matters anyway. I don't need to impress anybody outside of that or be known even in the suburbs."

She agreed with that. "That commercialized Hip Hop is why it pretty much sucks today and instead of being from the ghetto where it started it's now in colleges with middle class kids with nice cars. That's basically everybody that listens to Kanye West. You don't hear anybody from out here doing that."

Spooky remarked, "Chale, homes. Fuck that queer bait. Only posers listen to that kinda shit," He tried to start his car but it would not start. "What the fuck, Spitz you said this shit was gonna work! It won't even start! Chingada!" He cursed beating his fist against the dashboard.

Spitz gave a nonchalant shrug and said, "Sorry man, I'm a rapper not a mechanic. Guess you should have paid more attention in auto shop, huh?"

Spooky flipped him off and tried the car one more time before getting out of it and slamming the door frustrated. "Shit! I need my car for the street races over on Flora, Spitz! Entiendes?!" Delores knew what he was referring to. The drag races on Flora avenue, a community in South Los Santos, not too far from Jefferson that had once been a working class black community but as of the start of the twenty-first century, they were gone, moved out either to escape the gang violence or because of the racial tensions between black and brown that started on a large-scale in the 90's but had escalated more in the 21st.

At one time it had been a stronghold for the Rollers and had been so in the 80's and 90's. These days, it was home to a gang that had always been there that had forced them out, the largest gang in L.S. Flora 13. They were the biggest Matone set in Los Santos and were major shooters for La Onda when given the orders from the Carnales in various San Andreas prisons. La Onda was the Mexican Mafia prison gang that ran the Matones and pretty much every gang in Los Santos from within the prisons. She didn't like it when they did, but they had so much respect on the streets that even the Vagos did what they said a lot of the time.

While the gang was authoritarian, Delores did respect one thing. When in prison no beef was allowed. Various Matones might have beef with other varrios but in the pinta, that was forbidden. In there, the only thing that mattered was being Chicano. Chicanos had to stick together no matter what. She just wished it could be that way in the streets.

"You be careful when you do go out there!" Delores warned him. "You know we got beef with those vatos. Just don't get caught slipping on their turf. They're a force to be reckoned with and their females are jus as hardcore as their men, those bitches don't give a fuck, they'll hide razor blades in their mouths and slice you in a heart beat."

Spooky walked toward their car. "Horale, we gotta take your car, Peaches. Let's go see these guys. They're over on 165th , you don't mind if my carnal comes along with us, do you? He's a decent vato I can vouch that."

Delores didn't care. "Sure."

"Oh shit hold on, I'll be right back." He told her. He went inside and grabbed something that looked like a suitcase. He came back to the car with it. Delores began to drive out of Idlewood. She turned on the radio station to Radio Los Santos. The song Gangsta Life by South Central Cartel featuring Tupac played. "Take us to Greenwood boulevard. That's where these guys are. Now I got a strap just in case cause it's been a while since I've known them and since they are Rollers that made us enemies."

Peaches backed him up on that. "We all got cuetes. We can't take the chances that they won't pull some funny shit. How do you know these guys anyway?"

Spooky told her, "We went to the same high school at one time. Back before I moved to Douglass Parque I was living in Ganton. These guys are okay but I'm sure they killed Vagos before too. At least one way they differ from that mayate Carl Johnson is that they're willing to hustle for their scratch and they'll do it in their hood just like a lot of gangs would. We used to hate them over drugs but now it's racial."

Delores wanted to know, "What do you think of that? Piernas is bigoted towards them and I don't see any reason to hate an entire group based on the actions of some. He's so quick to insult and slow to listen. He's mi compadre but I wish he would change that."

Spooky was blunt with her as he was always was with everybody, "I don't trust them anymore than he does. It's not like we started that shit anyways. I remember how the kids used to chase me up the street calling me a beaner. Then i carried a blade on me every time i went to school. By high school, i had a cuete with me at all say we're immigrants in our own land but Mexico is not that long of a drive from here and my country is not far from there but Africa is all the way across the ocean. They came from there we came from right here, this very state. If they hate us so bad, why not leave? The white man fucked us over too, but I'm not expecting him to give me anything. That's what they gotta know. Nobody gives you shit in this world. If you're a sucker you'll break your back earning it but if you're a man you take what's yours."

Little Spitz agreed. "Si mon, Spooky! They take credit for civil rights and they teach Dr. King in history class but when do they ever talk about the Brown Berets or the American Indian Movement? Not once, homes. They cover our entire history in one page flat. Nothing about the Mexican revolution, nothing about the tribes of the south-west, nothing about the Taino in Cuba or the Andes in Peru, puro Latino! If we gotta learn about their history they should learn ours too. What about basketball? Do they even realize we invented that?"

Delores challenged Spooky. "Yeah but they've had it hard here too. I think it's just a divide and conquer tactic. They don't want Black and Brown united so the system keeps the hate going until you got people dead and in jail on both sides. What's worse, guys like Spider and Piernas fall right for it! They drop the N bomb like it was nothing now. If we think like Matones we aint any better than them!"

The 18th street gang member raised his eyebrows. "The N word? See that's the thing. How come it's okay for them to call us spics or beaners or wetbacks or Taco Indians or any other shit like that? The media brainwashed people into thinking calling somebody a nigger is somehow worse than all the other racial slurs. They think they're being PC, these liberal types that do that but what it does is create unequal grounds. We can't think like them, Hermosa!"

Peaches crosse her arms and said, "I think racism is wrong whatever way it goes. Prejudging is low."

Spooky argued, "I'm not _pre_ judging anybody mija. I'm judging them! I agree with you all the way but if a guy knocks my race I'm gonna knock his. It's as simple as that."

Peaches sighed. "Look I'm all for a good fight but there is a time and place for everything. If you want them to hear you out and change you have to educate a person who is stubborn."

Spooky didn't give an inch. "I'm not gonna educate anybody that aint my job. If the shoe were on the other foot they wouldn't be expected to educate me they'd expect me to just know better and keep my mouth shut! You can't work with double standards, Peaches. All I want is some respecto. I went through too much shit in my life and worked too hard for it to not get it. Let's just see how we do with these Rollers, yeah? If they can be trusted maybe I might change my mind."

They pulled into the neighborhood and parked in front of the house they were meant to stop at. They all got out of the car and Spooky greeted one of the gang members posted up near a fence. He had a blue Pro Laps hat on backwards over a blue bandanna. He also had a blue bandanna tied around his neck like a bandit. He also had on a blue flannel plaid checkered shirt over a black T shirt that had the Sprunk logo on it. "Que Pasa, homes? What's up, Midnight? Long time no see."

Midnight was a shorter man and was African-American and very dark-skinned in complexion. Had he been a girl he would be called a blue bone. This was how he had earned the nickname from friends and foe alike. "I'm just kicking it, cuz. What's happening with you, man? Who's these ladies?"

Spooky introduced them to him. "Ladies this is Midnight. Midnight, this is Peaches, Delores and Spitz," As he introduced each of them, he shook the hands of the ladies briefly. Upon hearing himself referred to as a lady, Spitz thumped Spooky and Spooky in turn thumped him back. "So what's the business? You got something you wanna do to the Ballas?"

Midnight who reeked of marijuana gave a nod. "Yeah, and we got the low down on some shit for you Vagos too. They got a nigga that's making a lot of bread for them and he comes and slings to niggas from my hood without paying taxes to us. Then he did the same thing in your hood. You remember that shit on the news about a Vago from Douglass over dosing on crack? He bought a twenty piece from this guy. Calls himself Tyrone. He used to live out in Douglass Park back in the 80's but now he's out there breaking bread with the Ball Sacks. They're the only niggas he pays dues to."

He removed his pistol from his jacket and said, "I say we put an end to that today. Fuck the dumb shit. He aint a Baller but he might as well be. I know they'll be covering his ass too which is why we need to roll deep when we go through," With that, Midnight walked up to two members of the gang. One of them was wearing no gang colors as he was dressed in a stylish gray shirt with Madd Dogg on it and he wore baggy jeans. Many Rollers, as with many gangs often avoided wearing gang colors around the hood to avoid suspicion and only did when they were out doing dirt.

This particular guy had his hair in curly twists. "Ya'll niggas down with me or what? Let's go put some work in on these Ball Less bitches," Midnight asked them.

The other gang member, a man wearing A blue Dribblers jersey over an orange T-shirt responded, "Hell yeah I'm down! Let's show em how we puts it down for Nutty Hood, cuz! Fuck them niggas," This guy was lighter brown in complexion and had his hair cut very short. He pulled his own pistol out and cocked it. Midnight turned to Delores and the crew and said, "Aight hold up we got one more guy we gotta go scoop up. He's my ace."

He looked at Delores's car and said, "We're gonna take our own ride too. Let's shorten the formalities, yall.. This is Sean and this is Marcus. Why don't you four follow us? We gotta walk on foot though my man's house is just down the street," They slowly followed the three gang members on foot. The way they crossed the street in front of traffic showed they didn't care about the rules.

Normally the only type of cops that would sweat anybody over that nowadays were bicycle cops but none of them would ever come through this neighborhood alone and the only time they would show up on bikes was if there was something big going down and there were twenty other bikes. From Delores's experience first hand, they were the biggest assholes.

The way Midnight and his two homies were acting showed that they weren't the law around here anyway. The Rollers ran this neighborhood. Not the cops and not the mayor."

As they followed them, Spooky spoke in Spanish so that the three accompanying Rollers would not understand. "Yo todavía no me fío de estos chicos. Si intentan algo, los matan. Mejor aún, lo haré. Me estoy tomando un riesgo simplemente confiar en que mejor que no me jodan."

**(I still don't trust these guys. If they try anything, kill them. Better yet, I will. I'm taking a risk just trusting them they had better not fuck me.)**

Delores observed them in a conversation of their own and remarked, "Bueno, tengo un arma ¿no? Sólo en caso de que algo va mal. Creo que podría ser tan necesitado de aliados de nuestro lado como lo hacemos con ellos." **Well you do have a gun right? Just in case something goes wrong. I think they might be as in need of allies on our side as we do with them.)****  
**

Spooky watched the gang members who were starting to speak in lower tones so as not to be heard, almost as though they were having the same type of conversation in English. He revealed his MP5 discreetly that he had in the suitcase. It had a red laser beam on it. "Obtengo mi mierda costumbre made.I ordenó esta lista de mierda de un loco pistola. El resto de lo que me modificado."

**(I get my shit custom made.I ordered this off crap list from some gun nut. The rest of it I modified myself. )**

Finally, they were at the house of the last Roller they needed to pick up. Midnight knocked on the door and there was no answer. He knocked again louder. "Come on, homie! Open up! Get your ass out here! We gotta roll, loc!" He shut the caged screen door back over the actual door and began banging on it. This made more noise and even still, after waiting thirty seconds there was no answer. Midnight put his ear to the door. "Motherfucker in here?"

He looked to his homeboys and looked worried. "Hey, I don't like this I say we kick the door down and go see what's keeping him. This is the hood, I mean how do we know some fools from another hood don't got him tied to a chair or went up in there with a machete or some shit like that?"

Delores exited the car and approached the three men. "What's the problem? Something wrong?"

The gang member named Sean looked at her, the one with the twisty curls that were almost like very short dread locks. "It aint your business! Why don't you go back and sit with them in the car where you belong? This is our neighborhood, girl! Back up!"

Delores quickly shot back, "Well your neighborhood just happens to be on our land. We were here first. Look I'm just trying to help..."

Sean got defensive still saying, "We don't need your help!"

Midnight stepped between the two of them. "Chill out, all right! We aint enemies at least we're trying not to be. She's on our side, bro so calm down! If she knows Spooky she can't be that bad!" Delores put her finger to her lips and said, "Shhh...do you hear that?" She leaned in toward the front door Midnight had been banging on. The gang member, Marcus came up and put his ear to the door. "Sounds like music to me. That don't mean nothing though, somebody could have came in and shot him and just turned his stereo up to block it out!"

Delores shook her head. "No, try to focus on what you hear behind the music. Somebody is in there."

Midnight went around to the side of the house. "Man, fuck this. If he aint answering the door I know he always keep one door unlocked!" He tried the side door which led into his kitchen. It opened. "Yup. These kind of houses are pretty much built up the same way." They could hear a woman moaning in the background. It sounded like somebody was in the middle of sex from the sounds of the yelps and moans coming from a bedroom. Midnight laughed. "No the fuck he didn't..."

He slowly pushed the door open.A voluptous African-American woman was riding a black man with a medium-sized Afro. She was naked completely but he had his tank top on. The music was also coming from inside the room too which seemed to be why they didn't notice the door being opened.

The woman had long curly hair and a big round ass with a butterfly tattoo on her right butt cheek as well as a Capricorn symbol tattoo on her right shoulder and for whatever reason, a Japanese symbol on her right wrist. The black guy plowing her and her breasts bounced and he shouted, "Look at those motherfuckers go, boing! Boing!"

Midnight stepped as close to the bed as he could without being seen and then yelled, "Break yourself, fool!" Midnight pulled out and stumbled scrambling for his pants. This got Marcus, Midnight and even Delores to laugh. "Yo , what the fuck are you doing here and why you got strangers in my fuckin house? You lucky you didn't get blasted on!"

Midnight's teeth were the brightest in the room. "Man, I texted you over an hour ago saying to be ready! Aint my fault you were in here fucking around. Tell that yellow bone to get lost and get dressed! Aint time for you to be taking a siesta! Meet me outside."

They walked back outside and Marcus and Sean were cracking up slapping hands about what they had just seen. "Man, that was some funny shit looked like it came straight out of a porno. Boing boing, nigga what? I think your man's in there trying to be a comedian in the sack. Damn though she was fine! Where do I get a fine mama like that?"

Midnight shook his head. "She aint nothing but a hood rat, man. They're all around but make sure to wrap that up if you're gonna do it. Yeah, boi, I'm preaching to you. You don't wanna catch Aids or something like that. I've seen homies lose weight and just shrivel up and die."

Sean was baffled, "What, Night you wouldn't tap that ass? Baby was finer than a motherfucker you saw that ass!"

Midnight laughed. "I love brown sugar but she's a little too light-skinned homie. Plus she had a bit of a gap tooth. She's cute and all but nah. That girl been around."

The Vagos in the car looked to Delores to see what was taking them so long. "Just another minute and we'll be ready." She assured them. Finally the gang member walked outside in a navy blue sweater and a pair of black jeans. "Who's this? When i saw another woman in the room I was thinking party over here! Then i got to thinking why there was also three niggas up in here and then I hoped it wasn't that kinda party."

Midnight laughed at that. "Oh, man! That's the funniest thing I heard in a long time, brah! Aight, well look this is Delores. She's from Douglass Park and that's her homies in the car over there. She's gonna be helping us do what we need to. Turns out we got similar interests in rolling on these Ballas. They're gonna be helping us tag team those fools in their own hood. This is Delores, that's Peaches, and that's Spooky. Me and him went to high school together back in the day. That other guy, i don't know him."

The guy spoke for himself. "Horale, I'm the next rapper who's gonna blow up!" This got a laugh from some of the Rollers but Midnight nodded in respect saying, "I can dig it. The rap game is where it's at right now anyways. Well this is my partner, Bullet."

Bullet nodded at the Vagos. "What's up," He said without much enthusiasm. Spooky got out of the car and walked up to Midnight. "Horale, so you say we got just as much to gain from this as you do. What did you mean? We hate the Ballas too but do you really think that's reason enough for an alliance?"

Bullet informed him, "The Ballas got a guy that used to break bread with us back in the day. Never rolled with any set. He was just about his money. Then he started dealing in our turf. Now I aint knocking anybody's hustle and even as much power as we got on the streets, it's not possible to shake down everybody for taxation. He did kick us some profit now and then. Next thing you know, he's slinging in our hood not paying taxes. I knew he was gonna get in trouble with the homies but that aint my hustle shaking fools down and I knew him so I figured whatever. Then he starts kicking it with the Ballas and gave them money when he slings in their hood and even when he did in ours! That's not cool. So now the Ballas are watching this bitch like he's their damn brother or something."

Spooky crossed his arms. "I don't see what this has to do with me. What do I care what some dope dealer does around Ganton and Jefferson? Not my call to make. What do you got against this guy? Is it just the feria?"

Midnight stepped up and explained, "Aside from money, nah. It aint nothing we can't handle. I mean he can't be with the Ballas 24/7 so we could just bum rush him and give him a warning or we can skip that if he gives us our paper from now on or at the very least, if he's gonna make money, not kick it to the enemies. I think we've actually exchanged drugs and money with our enemies because of this fool! Now I aint cool with no Baller but hey, money talks. It's you who has a problem with him."

Spooky's body language got defensive as he was not sure what to expect. "Que?"

Midnight broke it down simple. "That crack dealer a couple of years ago? See we aint spoken in years you and me, but that don't mean I don't hear about what's going down in Douglass. This guy had your sister hooked on blow, right? Then she OD'd and almost died. It got the mayor talking about how they were gonna crack down harder on dealers."

Spooky looked angry just even thinking about it. "Yeah I remember that little shit. is that who you're talking about? See I told that puto over the phone that my sister was sick but that if she died from his drug he was gonna catch a slug. She didn't die but that was only because the paramedics were there and they zapped her when she crashed. If they hadn't been there she would be dead. So no, she didn't die but that's too close for comfort. He's still gonna get it. You telling me this is the same guy? Don't bullshit me, Night. This is personal."

Midnight shook his head. "No lie, he's the one. You don't know his name? Jacob Washington. If we start dumping on them where I know he's lying low, I guarantee he's gonna make a run for it! Look, I think our best bet is to jam as many of them up between my guys and yours and we're bound to drop a lot of them. Their neighborhood is over on Eastern Avenue man, let's hit these fools!"

They got into the van and Spooky got back into the car. She followed the van up the street. She could hear the music they were listening to as they pulled away. The song Three Time Felons by Westside Connection was playing. They got over to Eastern avenue to some apartments and Bullet stopped the van and gave instructions to Delores. "We're gonna go around the front to block them in. There's only one way out other than that. You're gonna block that side. We jam them in don't leave them any breathing room."

Delores nodded and pulled around to the back of the apartment turning a corner and she found the back way to the parking lot and saw several cars parked there indicating that was the parking spot for residents there. She parked the Feltzer in the middle of the drive way so they would be boxed in. Meanwhile, Bullet went the other way and brought the van around the corner past a house as he made his way to the apartments front. A couple of Ballas were hanging on the corner talking. One of them was a light brown-skinned African-American looking to be about eighteen or so. He was wearing a red sweater, and a black Vice City Mambas hat over the red bandanna he had tied around his head.

"Just come on to the store with me, dawg! It won't take no longer than five minutes. Not even that." Urged his friend, a guy with cornrows. Just then the van rolled by and a black man dressed in all blue was pointing a shotgun out of the window, his pearly white teeth against his dark skin a bright sight while the look on his face was enough to make one cringe as he had what was known as a shit eating grin. "Yo Ball less!" He fired and the blast hit the guy in the sweater and he went crashing against the fence of what was his front yard as he took shotgun pellets to the chest. Bullet brought the van to the front of the apartment.

The guy who had just seen his friend shot's mouth hung open and he ran to the fallen gang member examining his lifeless body. A trio of Ballas had discovered this and withdrew their pistols. They ran after the van load of Rollers seeking instant vengeance for their fallen brother but were met with more gunfire as the Rollers unloaded out of the van, two of them firing pistols, one had a Beretta, the other, a .44 Desert Eagle. The first Baller to get near them was hit by a blast from the shotgun. He limped into the street and fell over.

Alive but incapacitated. They returned fire and one of them, a man with a short hair cut and sunglasses hit the Roller known as Sean in the side with three rounds. The wounded Roller fell into cover behind the other side of the van. "I got one of those niggas, man! I hit a Poser, blood! Cover me! We gotta get them all!"

His triumph was short-lived as Marcus, the man with the Desert Eagle fired a shot into his chest. The man's right lung collapsed before he had even hit the ground and he was powerless to stop it as he collapsed. The third gang member fired at him but Marcus was fast enough to get around to the front and the lone thug did not follow as he feared being shot coming around the van's blind side.

He was hit right away by several rounds from a pair of Mac-10's. The last thing he saw before he collapsed to the ground, clutching the spreading red stains on his black shirt, was Bullet standing over him with two smoking SMG's. Several more Ballas ran up the street after them, some dressed in red, others in non gang colors. The gang bangers fired at the van but Bullet sprayed at them sending them scattering as two of them were mowed down by the automatic rounds. Delores readied her Uzi she had been given.

She came into the complex and Peaches had two pistols in hand, Spitz had a shotgun and he fired at the first person he saw wearing red. He hit the man, an overweight black male in his thirties or possibly his forties. The majority of the blast hit the man in the left leg. He fired again. He pumped and fired again hitting the man in the waist. Delores could tell that the man was not a gang member. He had just been wearing a red hat. Three people, two women and a man ran away as they saw what had happened.

There was a set of stairs going up to the apartment. A Baller ran down the stairs, cocking his pistol. He had a red hat on forward but tilted slightly to the right and he had a white T shirt and burgundy shorts. He was darker skinned and had several tattoos on his forearms. He had a tattoo that said **KSB. **It stood for Krueger Street Ballas. Delores aimed the Uzi at him and fired. She let off ten rounds at him. The powerful weapon kicked in her hand and she almost lost control of it. She hit him, three rounds in the right femur, and two in the chest. The other rounds hit the stairs missing him. Still, the gangster took a spill down the stairs and dropped his pistol. "Fuck, man! This bitch got me!"

He tried to grab the gun but Delores fired again holding tightly to the kicking automatic. She let off another eleven rounds and hit him in the stomach. Two rounds penetrated his liver. He bled out as the rounds had hit him all through his center mass and it had hit a part of him that caused the acid to burn, poisoning him. He died in harsh pain. Spooky had his MP5 out and was carefully picking out targets. A Baller in a black tank top and a pair of blue jeans with a red rag in his back pocket was firing from the cover of the second floor of the apartments.

He rained fire at the Vagos with a 9mm but missed as he was firing blindly around the railing of the balcony. "Roaches and Mexicans hitting up our hood? Aint that a bitch?" Spooky focused the red laser on his right arm and let off a seven round burst. The man screamed in agony as they hit him in the forearm and one round hit him directly in the funny bone. A door opened to the left of Peaches and a Baller holding a Colt Python came out but before he could get off a shot, she unloaded on him with both guns. He fell back against the door of his own apartment, his blood staining the carpet and the door itself.

Spitz took a round in the arm as a shot hit him from a Baller who was using his own apartment door as cover. The guy had a red bandanna tied around his head with the knots to the front. He also had a red basketball jersey and black jeans on. He fired a .380 and he narrowly missed Little Spitz as a round whizzed past his right ear. "Fuck ya'll pussies! You down with Roaches now? Thought all you spics hating niggas? Like the Matones? We'll kick your asses back to the border, fool!"

Spitz pumped the shotgun and fired at the door blasting a huge chunk out of it leaving a big hole. He heard the gang member cry out indicating he had wounded him. Spitz kicked the door down and pumped again and he saw that the gang member had taken pellets in the right shoulder from the blest and was bleeding from the chest as he had sent pieces of debris from the door into him. The gangster had dropped his gun and before he could reach for it, Spitz stood over him. "I don't hate all mayates, homes. Just fags like you."

With that, the Hispanic gangster fired and shot the man in the stomach and blew a huge hole into it while also blasting his leg in half, the severed part of it spurting blood as it was blown off at the knee. Meanwhile, at least two more gangsters were firing down upon them and Delores had spotted a wounded gang member whom Peaches had wounded critically. She grabbed him and used him as a human shield.

Several rounds were fired down at her and the already bleeding Baller, took all of them for her. She let him fall to the ground and she fired her Uzi up at the balcony and hit both gang members. One of them took three rounds in the temple and the blood and brain spattered on the window of the apartment behind him. The other was wounded, taking rounds in the shoulder, the side and the abdomen. She reloaded and the gang member she had used as a shield groaned, "You bitch..." As he breathed his last on the concrete face down.

Meanwhile, on the Rollers front, Sean had taken four rounds but was going strong. He had laid out one of the Ballas that had done it with a head shot but the other one was still alive and was taking cover with his newly arrived homies from the neighborhood that had joined in the fire fight. He did not see the man who had done it so he for the nearest Baller in his let off nine rounds. He hit the gang member in the right knee cap and as the guy went down, several of the rounds hit him in the back. As he did, a Baller fired at him and almost got him. Bullet took aim and unloaded with the Uzi. The target was a woman in a very short skirt and a red tube top. She shook as the rounds hit her from her abdomen to her chest and all the way up to face.

Sean seemed horrified by this. "Man, what are you doing? That's a female! You lost your mind, nigga?"

Bullet scoffed. "It's either me or that bitch and she wouldn't hesitate. Neither should you, little nigga. Otherwise you'll be in a pine box. Don't let no Ball Sucker fade you, man. She's the enemy."

Sean looked at him with disgust. "Damn, cuz! Aint your mama raise you better than that?"

Bullet chuckled. "Nah, my mama taught me women are just as bad as a man. Quit being a sexist, loc. If you see red, don't hesitate just squeeze," He fired another burst into the already dead woman and said, "From her breasts to her cheeks to her cute little feet!"

They made their way onto the complex of the apartment and headed through. Midnight shot a Balller looking to be in his thirties in the waist with a shotgun blast. The gang member slumped against the wall and slid down it and fell in a heap on the ground. "Aight this is how we're gonna do this! We each kick in an apartment door. If they got Ballas in it, we cap their ass. If not, we live them alone. Either way we let these fools know that the Rollers still roll deep and we finna be running Los Santos just like the good days."

He was referring to the 1990's prior to 92' when Carl Johnson had come back to town and spread the gangs influence. It had taken a couple of years for the man to become a millionaire off of the money leftover from the casino heist, the profit from the Four Dragons, his garage in Fierro, and his job as Madd Dogg's manager but by 1994 he had done just that. Become a millionaire. The Orange Grove Families all became the High Rollers. However by the time the year 2000 came up, Carl was no longer in the hood anymore and had left the area focusing on his success. This had left the Rollers without a millionaire to fund everything so they had to hustle just like they had before, under mining him and his brother.

Now, they were still a force to be reckoned with. Their name had changed, their colors had changed and they were now as deep in the dope game as the Ballas were, perhaps even deeper, but the principal of family was the same. Some even wore old tattoos to pay homage to the original gang and the fallen from Ganton.

Midnight reloaded the shotgun, shaking the thoughts of the past from his mind as this was no time to reminisce. He kicked a door open and went inside. A middle-aged black man rushed forward but then cowered back as he saw the weapon. His wife and two children backed up in fear as well huddled on the couch. "Any you motherfuckers claiming B side? Answer me!"

The man held his hands up. "We don't bang, son! Please don't kill us! We got kids!" The woman was whimpering and pleaded, "We go to church every sunday we're God-fearing people! Please don't shoot!"

Midnight eyed the two kids, one boy and one girl. He looked at the father and said, "Well in that case you make sure to never let these kids hang out with those niggas in red on the corner, you feel me? Keep them out of gangs!" He proceeded to exit the apartment but then winked, "That is unless you all happen to move outta this hood. Then feel free to give me a call!"

With that, he left and shut the door behind him. He saw a Baller three doors down cocking a shotgun and he fired at Marcus who ducked down into the lower part of the stairs. The gang member, a black man with a large Afro, a pair of shades, a gray T shirt, blue stone washed jeans, and a red bandanna which he had tied around his fists, saw Midnight and aimed for him pumping for another shot. Midnight went to aim at him but the Baller had him beat. Still, he wasn't about to go out like a punk. If he had to die, so would this Baller. The shot never came, at least not from either shotgun as the man was hit in the back of the head by a gunshot.

Midnight looked to see Marcus had popped back up with the Desert Eagle. As the thug reloaded, Midnight patted him on the back with one hand. "Hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about bro! G shit!"

Marcus took two rounds from a rival downstairs who was firing a baby glock. The first shot hit Marcus in the right shoulder while the second got him in the left leg. He drew a bead on the man who had done this and fired two shots. The first missed but the second knocked the man on his back as the powerful .44 slug tore through his heart and exited out of his back. "BK all day! You bustas can't see me!" He shouted, choosing to keep shooting and not worry about the gunshot wounds he was afflicted by.

He did not notice that a second man had come out of the same apartment as the man who had just been shot by him. This man snatched up the shotgun that had been dropped by his homeboy. Midnight aimed at him but felt a sharp pain from behind and he fell to the ground, his weapon discharging as he fell. He spun around to see a gang member with a baseball bat. He felt sharp pain in his side as the wooden bat him in the rib cage. He retrieved his pistol from his belt and cocked it back. The gang member hit him again, this man, an overweight guy with dread locks. He fired his pistol rapidly letting off seven shots, not even bothering to aim. At this range he didn't need to.

The man fell back against the railing clutching the bloody holes in his shirt, several of the rounds piercing his fat gut. He fell against the railing and then over it falling off the second floor balcony to the ground below. If the shots had not killed him, surely the position he had landed in would have as it broke his neck. Midnight retrieved his shotgun and pumped it again trying to focus through all the screams and gunfire around him. He spotted the same guy who grabbed the shotgun and saw Marcus leaning against the balcony railing hanging onto it.

The Roller was shot in the abdomen, a nasty wound, the result of a shotgun blast at point-blank range. He saw the guy who had shot him was going for another shot. Midnight yelled, "No!" Before firing and the blast hit the man in the abdomen and his left arm. The blast blew his arm in half and his arm sprayed blood all over himself and Marcus. Midnight jumped over the crumpled body as the mortally wounded gang member shrieked like a wounded animal at the blood sprayed like a sprinkler. Blood dripped from Marcus's lips. He tried to say something but only coughed up blood instead.

"Marcus! Don't try to talk, fam! Shit...this is bad. We're gonna get you some help just hold on, cuz!" Marcus's eyes rolled back in his head and he was wheezing as the shotgun blast had collapsed both of his lungs. A death rattle rounded in his throat. Midnight observed the wounded enemy on the ground screaming his lungs out. "AHHHH! Fuck man! Just fucking kill me...AHHHH! SHIT! JESUS...come on...finish me...finish me...YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"

Midnight snarled, "Fuck you! That would be too easy for your bitch ass! You can just lay there and bleed like a stuck pig cause at least then you'll suffer more. That's what happens when you fuck with my Family, man! Lay there and die, punk!" The gang member had tears in his eyes and Midnight went back to kicking doors in but made sure to take cover on the side of them first.

Delores spotted Midnight on the second floor as he was yelling at somebody he had just shot. She couldn't make out whatever it was he was saying but he seemed pissed. She had other matters to attend to anyway. Three Ballas were using her as target practice trying to shoot her from down in the apartment's parking lot. She sprayed her Mini Uzi blindly around the side and heard a cry indicating she had wounded at least one of them. Spooky was inside of an apartment as he had found two Ballas inside of it and they were exchanging gunfire. Spooky, near the front door but also the kitchen, they, inside the living room, ducked behind a couch. "You Bar ho's are gonna pay for this! Real talk!"

Spooky caught one of them in the hand with the laser attachment to his MP5. The rounds send four rounds through the knuckles. The man cried out and he exposed himself just enough for the Mexican banger to draw a bead on him and let off nine rounds before reloading. The Baller took the nine in the chest and fell back against his own couch. "Fuck all ya'll! Kruger Street Ballas! You in a real hood now, motherfucker! Bette ask somebody! KSB on mine, dawg!" Spooky fired and ran out of rounds in the mag so he reloaded. "You call this a hood? Looks like a bunch of sherm head putas to me! You call this shit hole a hood? Looks like a fucking joke to me,"One round grazed Spooky in the side of the leg. He exclaimed at the shock of it but fired from cover.

The rounds missed the gang member and instead hit his TV. "You missed me, punk! You got my homie though! That's your ass, Tito! I'm gonna take that gay ass brown rag off you and put a red rag on your body! How does that sound, bitch boy? Stick your head around the corner again!"

Spooky could see a stereo near the couch in the reflection of a picture frame of a woman smiling, presumably a member of their family. He did not stick his head out but he did blindly fire the MP5 trying to hit the stereo. He did and it fell onto the gang member and sparked as it landed on him. The guy screamed as he was electrocuted and injured as the stereo fell on him. He was trapped under it and he shook and screamed as the jolts of electricity shot through his body due to Spooky having shot it. Spooky chuckled and fired sending several rounds through the speaker which went through the stereo, increased the sparks and eventually a few hit him. Just as the guy had managed to shove the thing off of him. It rolled off of him and collapsed in ruins.

His pants caught on fire. Spooky exited the apartment. The gang member Delores had hit with blind fire was angry. The three Ballas advanced toward the stairs firing their pistols. Delores was down to her last magazine. She loaded it and slapped it home and let the rounds fly. She almost hit them but they ducked behind cover. Bullet appeared next to her, taking cover and he handed her two magazines. "Here! I'm always carrying spares! Just don't spray though unless you got no choice but only when they're in the open, not behind cover."

A man who was not wearing colors was taking cover behind the cars where the Ballas were, a Walther P99 in hand. The man wore an orange shirt under a black jacket. He was a black man from Panama and a dope dealer that lived in the hood. He was not a gang member but he was from the area as of the last few years. "What's going on, bro? Who are these muchachos? Why are they shooting at us?"

Delores listened in and could tell that whoever he was, despite being Afro Latino, he was accepted by the people there. In this case it didn't matter where he was from but what his skin color was. As much as Delores was not a neutral in gang warfare, she did try to be neutral in the aspect of ethnic background. She knew she didn't like being discriminated against so she would not do it. At the same time, if anybody did discriminate against her, like that man Chad had prompting her to car jack him, she would kick their ass. Where as guys like Piernas or possibly even Spider, would kick their ass while also calling them a racially derogatory word at the same time.

She had often found herself wondering why she was friends with a hateful guy like that but she knew he was loyal. In the varrio, two wrongs didn't make a right but they sure as hell do make it even. She didn't blame him for not wanting to be there. _I'm not feeling so great about it myself. _She thought gloomily as a Baller fired at her even as she was already behind cover. "Yo somebody cap that bitch! She's nimble as hell! Fast as she is, she's gonna be a thorn in our side. Shoot her!"

The drug dealer was discussing something with one of the Ballas down there. "Aight, nigga you aint red but you're still from these streets so you wanna pitch in and dump on these pussies be my guest! You're as much a part of Eastern ave as me just don't miss like these guys keep doing! There's a Roach right next to that girl up there, man! Blast him I'll give you twenty g's homie."

The dealer aimed and began firing. One round almost hit him as it whizzed past his ear. Bullet ducked down but Delores opened up. She hit the Baller she had initially wounded with several rounds to the head. His brains leaked out of the red bandanna as he slumped to the pavement. Fourteen of her rounds slammed into another one, a lighter skinned black male, possibly mulatto, with a shaved head who was dressed in a striped red and white T-shirt, gray stone washed jeans, a red belt, black Pro Laps sneakers, and a red bandanna tied around his neck, which was also hit by the rounds as one pierced the side of it. He cried out in pain but before he could make more noise the other rounds hit him near the upper part of his left rib cage and as he fell over, at least five hit him in the small of his back.

Delores moved toward the stairs nearest to her on the other side of where Spooky and Midnight were. She moved down them and they concentrated their fire on her. One round hit her in the left arm. "Fuck!" She cried out. The dealer had hit her. He fired again and the Uzi was hit and the round went through her left hand. She cried out in intense pain as it came out. She fell against the stairs but went right for her pistol. She discharged six rounds wildly at him and he was hit in the right shin before he could get to cover. She heard him cursing in Spanish. "I think you hit her, Rico! That's what's up! Oh shit you okay?"

The dealer curse in agony and screamed, "Hell no, I'm not okay, maricon! I'll be better when that slut is dead!" He fired from around the side of a dark brown Merit. Rico charged, leg wound and all, firing wildly and rapidly. She fired back carefully aiming and shot him three times in the stomach. He staggered back as each round hit him and he held his wounds. Despite dropping to his knees, the stubborn dealer refused to go down without a fight.

He raised the Walther again but before he could aim at her she put one between his eyes with her right hand. Delores was crouched as she made her way to a Baller she had just seen creeping up. He was a younger light-skinned man with a goatee and a mustache. He wore a maroon do rag, a gray sweater, and khakis much like Vagos often did.

She did not see him where he had ducked down right before she had shot and wounded Rico. She felt a sharp throbbing pain as somebody hit her with the butt of a pistol. She fell and out of the corner of her eye, saw the Baller. "You took a lot of my homies away today, bitch! They were good too. Rico? He was gold! I used to break bread with that guy, he schooled me on some shit on the game. You picked the wrong hood to press your luck with."

She tried to reach for her gun but he kicked her in the ribs. "Stay down! You aint about to do nothing! Vagos, Rollers, man fuck anybody that aint from my hood! You lil bitch!" He kicked her again and she grunted. He put the gun to her head and said, "Sayanara bar ho."

She braced herself for the shot but instead several shots sounded and the man fell on top of her. She looked and saw his dead eyes staring right at her. She pushed his corpse off of her and rolled him away and saw that he had four holes in his back. Peaches was holding her smoking handguns but she helped Delores to her feet. "Told you i always got your back, hermana! You okay? That's a nasty wound! We gotta get that fixed up. Soon as we get out of here. If we ever find that dope dealer. Oye! Is this him or not?" Spooky, who had just kicked in the door to an apartment came out and looked at the dead drug dealer Delores had killed.

"Chale!" He said. "The guy we're looking for is Americano! He's gotta be here!" With that the El Salvadoran gang member poked his head into the apartment and said, "I'm very sorry for disturbing your meal. Lo Siento."

Sean had kicked in another door and a busty woman with a caramel complexion and neck length hair backed up in fear. She was wearing a white tank top and black work out shorts. "What you doing in my house? Why you bleeding all over my carpet?"

The Roller smiled. "You don't hear World War III out there? Shit is popping off between the Rollers and Ballas. Nothing for you to worry about. Damn, you fine! Shit though I gotta get back to my homies though."

The woman smiled in a flirting way and said, "Hey i got a first aid kid in the bathroom I can stitch you up real quick."

Sean didn't know what to do. "Nah I don't know if that's a good idea. I really gotta get up outta here before the cops show up ya know?"

She shook her head. "I'll hide you in here! I love a man who knows how to handle a gun. Especially a bad boy like you," She grabbed him by the crotch and he was shocked by her blunt attitude. "Hey what you doing girl? Now aint really the time."

She smiled and kissed him. "I can be real generous to a man who's willing to fight for me. Just please don't point that gun at me, okay? I had an abusive ex that used to threaten me with his revolver."

He reluctantly put the pistol down and she put her hands on his chest. He kissed her back at disbelief at the possibility of sex during what was going on outside but as a man he had to admit it was a pretty hot and crazy time to get freaky. He shut the door behind him as he did and he put his hand up her shirt feeling her breasts. As he opened his eyes he saw a picture of the same woman in the arms of a man dressed in a San Fierro 69ers jersey, a red bandanna on his head and around his neck, and even one around her. As he looked back at her he saw that she had taken his gun and had it on him. "No!" She grinned and pistol whipped him.

Sean fell back his head bleeding on top of the gunshot wounds he had already. "Yeah you best believe it! I'm Balling! You don't know how many Roaches like you fell for the same shit! I don't even need my man to kill nobody for me when I set fools up either. I do that myself like a real woman should."

The Roller was helpless. He just backed away crawling and said, "You're scandalous!"

She pointed the gun directly at his forehead and smiled big before saying, "Yeah? Well you're trespassing, punk!" Before pulling the trigger.

Downstairs, Spooky finally spotted who he was looking for. He tackled Jacob, a lighter skinned clean-shaven and well-groomed black guy in his twenties. He wore a dark green T shirt and black basketball shorts as well as a gold cross necklace. Spooky forced him to spin around and he punched the man in his face. "Can you ladies cover me? Much appreciated if you could!" He shouted to Delores and Peaches. Jacob fought back, hitting Spooky in the jaw trying to force the Latino off of him but the Vago was determined to kill him

"You tried to make mi hermana a crack whore, eh!" He said as he drove his knee into his gut and then rammed his elbow into the youth's chest. "You fucked up big time you little shit! She almost died because of you! In fact she did for a few seconds!" He was talking while assaulting him. He hit the dealer in the jaw the same way he had done to him and the guy bit his own lip. Jacob was bleeding but he still fought back. He rammed Spooky like a line backer and he was on the ground and Jacob pounced on him.

He punched Spooky in the gut. "Hey, fuck you! Your sister was a grown ass woman! She knew exactly what the fuck she was doing! I didn't put a strap to her head and make her smoke! You know that! Blame her or yourself but don't blame me your sister become a coke whore!" He hit him again but Spooky flipped him onto his back and jumped at him again bringing his knee down on his groin smashing it. "Watch your mouth! That's my baby sister you're talking about."

As Spooky hit him again and again, his nose now bleeding freely after a hard right hook to the fac from Spook. Jacob had a pistol he was attempting to retrieve but the two of them wrestled over it. As they did Jacob declared, "Everybody is somebody's mother, father daughter brother or sister, man! You know that shit! That's just the way it works on these streets! Don't hate the player, hate the game partna. How are you any different from me? You sold drugs too!"

Spooky hit him again with a hard left hook. He had been a boxer in High School and had actually won a Golden Glove. He hit him again with a hard right hook and then another punching him as hard as he possibly could. "Yeah we sling cabron but we did it to rich kids in college!"

He forced Spooky off of him and drop his elbow into his chest which knocked the wind out of him. Spooky snarled as he took three more blows. "I sold to rich people! College students at a frat, no problem I have the party flavors. Or if some suburban woman needed something as a pick me up I got them there too. What I don't do is sling to my own or manipulate a woman's addiction for sex!" With that he head butted Jacob and knocked him back.

He hit him as hard as he could again and the dealer groaned and coughed. He grabbed him by the throat and hit him in the stomach. "You can choke on your own teeth, motherfucker!" Jacob kicked him off. "Yeah, motherfucker your sister gives good head when she's fiending, homie!" Spooky attempted to get up and fight more but Jacob gave him a kick to the face. He grabbed his own pistol and attempted to shoot him but Spooky tackled him around the legs causing him to fall over and hit his head. Even still, the drug dealer kicked him off from grabbing his leg and he grabbed the handgun again. He was about to shoot but he saw Delores, Peaches, and Midnight coming after him. He decided on flight instead of fight.

Jacob ran out to the parking lot and looked for a vehicle he could take. He didn't have the keys to his own car on him. He noticed that the shooting had stopped temporarily for at least two minutes. He needed to hot wire a car but he wasn't sure he would have enough time. Either the Vagos, the Rollers or the cops would surely get him before he could. Just then, he noticed a pizza delivery boy walking up with two large pizzas in hand. Delores helped Spooky to his feet but also kept her eyes on the dealer he had attacked. He was approaching a white guy with blonde hair, a pizza delivery man for Well Stacked Pizza Co. , the one downtown that normally Delores used to order from.

Normally they didn't deliver to Ganton or any rough areas like it but since she was from Douglass Parque which was not so far from downtown, and was one of the closest ghettos to it, they delivered there. "Hey, you the guy that ordered a pepperoni with mushrooms?"

Jacob pointed his pistol at the kid. "Nah but give up the keys to whatever piece of shit you got around here!" The guy dropped the pizza and held his hands up. "Oh Christ I've never been jacked in this area before! I was told never deliver in Ganton before but I thought that was just how it used to be!"

The drug dealer snarled, "I aint got time for games, motherfucker gimme the keys or I'm dusting your ass!"

The man gave up the keys and he ran to the red Fagio. "A motherfucking scooter? You gotta be kidding me!" When he noticed that Spooky was back on his feet and had retrieved the MP5 he ran to it and hopped on starting it up. "I'm sold!" He began to ride off down the street. Midnight asked Delores, "You didn't shoot him? Why not? You had him in your sights."

She explained, "I didn't want to risk hitting the pizza guy," Midnight scoffed. Spooky brushed blood from his lip and scowled. "Can you go get him? I don't want him getting away! I gave him a beat down he'll never forget but I want him dead! We all do!"

Midnight nodded. "I'm gonna go get Bullet and Sean and we're gonna shake the spot too."

She nodded and they got into the Feltzer and headed up the street after the guy. They sped up the street. They sped up after the Fagio. The guy was swerving all over the street. Spooky looked at Little Spitz and demanded, "Did you even kill any of those Ballas, Spitz? You gotta earn your keep!"

Spitz took offense to this. "Of course I did, dawg! You know I did! I lit up those scrubs. I'm always dropping those chavalas, compadre! They're all around us in Idlewood, remember? Ganton aint nothing new to me."

Spooky observed Peaches who had a bit of blood on her lip. "You okay, mija? Who hit you? I hope you didn't let him get away with it!"

Peaches just smiled like it was nothing. "Some idiot tried to take my pistols from me. Some guy that thought I was there to kill him. I didn't even go into his apartment. It's fine, Spooky. I showed him I aint always such a peach. He looks a lot worse than I do."

Delores sped up and Jacob realized she was tailing him. He briefly pulled to a stop to open fire with his own pistol at them. Seven bullets hit the car but Delores and Spitz ducked down in the seat. He was already back to driving off again. Peaches shouted to her, "Floor it, Delores!"

Spitz grinned. "Nice rhymes, Peach!" She aimed her Uzi out of the window, while steering with the right hand. "You die, motherfucker!" She fired and hit the back of the motor scooter. The license plate was shot off and fell into the street as was the tail light. The man was on his cell phone as he drove. _What an idiot! _She thought to herself. "I'm telling you, man get some homies out here to help me, man these bitches are all up on my nut sack! As much as i kick money your way, man? I make hella scratch for the hood, you know...shit!" He swerved barely missing a taxi cab going the other way.

Delores fired her Uzi at him again unloading on him. She hit him in the back. The scooter crashed and he fell from it into the street. She reloaded the Uzi. This was her last magazine. The dealer got to his feet and began to limp up the street as she got out of the car. He had been hit several times in the back and the left shoulder and at least one round had gone through. He turned around despite the blood dripping down his arm the blood on his shirt, the injuries slowing him down, and he fired several shots. She ducked down as he did a round hit the left side mirror.

She came around the side seeing him attempt to cross the street and make his way behind an alley. She fired a burst in the back pit of his left and right legs. He collapsed and fell to the ground. He weakly crawled to the side of the building against the wall. He was breathing hard grunting in pain from the multiple gunshot wounds. "Fucking bitch! Who the fuck are you? You aint Spooky's sister! I know what she looked like! I've fucked her...so what? Who hasn't? She would have gone lez for a hit, man! She knew what she was doing!"

He handed over his wallet after having dropped his gun in the street. She knew he had a decent amount of money in there and she also knew this was an attempt at buying her off so that she wouldn't kill him. _This guy doesn't know what I'm about at all. _She thought. _I'd take respect in the varrio over money any day of the week._

Delores aimed the SMG at him and he stared at the Mexican woman with fear in his eyes. "Bitch? I'm the baddest bitch in Los Santos. As for Spooky, he is my brother he's like a brother to me and I'm like a hermana to him. I also knew his sister. She almost lost her life cause of you. She saw what blow did to rich gringos who got high off of his shit but it was because she was dating an asshole like you that she ever tried it. You? You're just another womanizing man whore. Nobody will miss you."

He looked at her like she had betrayed him some how. "What the fuck, man? What did I just give you my grip for if you was gonna shoot me anyway? I gave you the money so you wouldn't kill me!"

Delores corrected him. "I never agreed to that. You suggested it I never said it was a deal. I appreciate the feria but Spooky is mi hermano. I would die for him. He may sling but he has never exchanged sex for drugs. Not once. You're no better than a pimp."

With that, she squeezed the trigger and splattered his brains against the wall next to him, a bit of skull attached to a piece of gray matter drenched in blood was hanging from his destroyed face. She ran back to the car and drove off. As they drove off they heard sirens sounding in the distance. "Always funny how long it takes them to show up in the hood, eh Delores?" Young Spitz observed. _That it is..._

Back in the apartment complex, Bullet was tagging up a building with blue graffiti over a KSB tag. He simply wrote BK over the previous red tag. This took balls in a rival hood. Midnight approached him and said, "Hey homie we gotta dip on outta here. Go find Sean. Did you see him?" As Bullet finished the tag he clutched the Uzi and handed the spray paint to Midnight who returned to the van. "I'll get the shit started ya'll meet me out front in two minutes!"

Bullet ran up the stairs to the place where he had seen Sean go. He kicked open the door and two shots were fired at the door. He used the door from the outside as cover. He had sixteen rounds left in his own Uzi. He sprayed around the side of the door frame and he heard a feminine cry of pain. He went inside and saw Sean laying on the floor. He had a bullet in his forehead. "No! Not my nigga! Come on, cuz don't you die on me!"

The woman who had shot at him and who had without a doubt killed Sean, laughed with scorn despite having blood in her mouth from catching eight rounds in the right side of ribs near the armpit. "He fell for it. They all fall for it. Your boy died because he was horny and stupid...now you will too."

He emptied the last of the magazine into her hand with the gun it as she tried to fire. Her shot hit the ceiling and he shot three of her fingers off. She cried out in intense pain and he gave her a kick to the stomach where there was not blood on her yet so as not to get blood on his shoes. The kick knocked the wind out of her and she coughed up blood. He readied his Handgun and he told her, "Nah, my partna was good. He was raised old school told to never hurt a female. My mama taught me that if a woman hits you like a man, you knock her out like one. She didn't have shooting in mind but the principal is the same."

He fired his pistol ten times in a fury putting shots in her stomach, chest, her neck and her face. She had a chunk of her face taken from three of the shots.

Bullet ran outside and ran after the van. They got in and began to speed up. The police were on the way there. They spotted a nearby patrol with flashing lights and blaring sirens and the cop behind the wheel, an Asian man began to call for backup. They were just one car and there were others nearby on their way but this was alone. Bullet covered his face up with his blue bandanna he had tied around his face and he had a beanie on his head. He squeezed off an entire magazine at the cop car. The officer attempted to back away in the car but the rounds peppered the windshield and hit the cop in his chest, about half of a dozen rounds being stopped by the vest, the other went through.

The next rounds also hit him in the head and he leaned against the wheel. The other officer, a Caucasian female attempted to get out of the car even as she was hit in the left arm pit, the chest, the stomach and the back as she fell out of the still moving car. This time, Midnight was driving and he floored it to get them out of there taking back alleys to get away from the cops.

Midnight looked at him and demanded, "Where's Sean?" Bullet shook his head looking distressed. Midnight was sweating and he pounded the steering wheel with frustration.

Delores got them into Douglass Park but Peaches insisted she stop near the hospital in the community first. "You gotta get that hand looked at. Get it taken care of homegirl. We'll get rid of this car. Take it somewhere and dump it or set it on fire so the chotas don't trace it back to us."

Delores demanded, "Just what the hell am i supposed to tell them about me getting shot in the arm and hand?"

Peaches thought quickly and said, "We did have some drinks last night right? Tell them you were drunk last night, staggered around south of downtown and you don't remember anything at all. You woke up with a bad hangover and saw that somebody had fucked your hand up. Just try it, mija! It's better than telling the truth!"

Delores nodded. "Okay, I'll go."

_Six Hours Later..._

There was a party going on in the barrio. Delores Fortuna had smoked one of the major drug dealers that had caused Spooky's sister to overdose. Smiley sat outside on the porch of his house smoking a blunt with Spider. "Horale, I know you like her homes, so why don't you go for it? What have you got to lose, carnal?"

They were talking about how Spider was secretly in love with Peaches. In fact when she had been rolled into the hood one dirty secret was that it was him and Piernas who had been the ones she slept with. They had all been seriously wasted when that happened and Spider only remembered parts of it. Piernas had remembered nothing at all. This was why he liked to flip her shit about it often. To him, the event had never taken place. "Why would I double team a woman with another naked vato in the room? I aint no faggot homes," He would say.

Spider told him, "Smiley you know she and Spooky are sweet on each other now que no? They've liked each other for a long time he doesn't even judge her for how she got put onto the varrio. Sabes que I missed my chance, carnal. You know what they say, some of us are meant to be lovers and some are meant to be fighters and then you got those rare few that can do both. Spooky is both. Me, I'm just a fighter who wishes he could be a lover."

Smiley chuckled and took a sip of the bottle of El Trono he was drinking. "¡Quizá no! Maybe you're just a lover who is trying too hard to be a fighter? Don't worry about it, Spider. if they don't last you can go for it but if not there are plenty of hynas from the varrio. You really wanna live on the edge though, go to Eco Parque. They've got some nice women out there."

Spider took a sip from his own El Trono and shook his head. "No, I don't have any luck like that, homie. It's whatever that's life, right? I know you're just saying that to get my spirits up. I appreciate it but I aint gonna think about it no more. See? Look over there. They're having the time of their lives!"

The two were dancing with each other to Corazon Espinado by Santana. Smiley just looked at it like it was no big deal. "Hey, Spooky is still our homeboy just remember that okay? Never fight over a woman, eh? Seen too many friendships end that way. Anyway if he's over there and she's over there having the time of her life why don't you hook up with somebody and do the same thing? Even if its only for today. Remember one thing though. Thin line between a homegirl and lover sometimes it can be the same thing."

He took another swig of beer and continued to tell the younger gang member. "One other thing. Never fuck around with a woman's heart. Women are passionate. They will kill you if you burn them. Never disrespect them either. I remember one thing i heard about on the news when this vato was beating up on his old lady and you know what she did, man? She cut his chorizo off."

Spider stood up but said, "Serio? Wow that's harsh but I guess he deserved it right? Damn! Damn shame how the men who mistreat women get the woman but the ones who don't are shit out of luck, eh?"

Smiley stood up and threw his bottle away in the garbage can nearby. "Hey it aint always that way. You'll find a good ruca carnal. I mean you've done right by women so far right? Never hit them or insulted them? So just kick back and wait. The right one will come along. Karma will take care of you either way. Just make sure you're always on her good side. Actually, karma aint so different from women themselves."

They both laughed at that. As the music played, a violet Landstalker pulled up. One Vago gang member, a man wearing a gold jacket and a black bandanna beckoned to his homie. "Hey check that ride out, man. You know those guys? I don't like the looks of them, bro."

The fellow gang banger scoped it out and shrugged it off. "Nah don't sweat it, they're just here for some rocks. I've seen guys like that before around here. We're not their problem anyway. If there's anybody they gotta watch out for it's the Truchas. Those are the ones that would fuck with them."

Ironically despite sharing and fighting over the same turf none of the Truchas were in sight tonight. Possibly lying low. Piernas put an arm around Pablo. "Hey don't worry about your sister, Ese. She's gonna be just fine. I know her. She'll be outta that hospital by tomorrow. We'll get those pussies that killed Junior too, man. I did try to tell you he aint cut out for this though right?" Pablo nodded as he also took a drink of beer. Smiley beckoned to Pablo. "Oye, come here carnalito! Got something for you!"

Pablo approached the gang leader and Smiley handed him a wad of cash discreetly. "Your sister got this from the guy we were telling you about earlier today. She left it to me to hold onto. Probably cause she thinks either Spider or Gabe would use it for a beer run if they got hold of it. She wanted you to have some of it too. She was thinking you'd stay out of trouble if you had some cash in your pockets. That way you don't gotta run around out there just to get paid."

He gave Pablo two thousand dollars out of the six g's she found on the drug dealer Jacob Washington she had killed that day. Pablo took it and said, "Gracias Smiley."

Smiley advised him, "Look I know you're a grown man nowadays and not a kid but you gotta understand, Delores just wants what is best for you. You can do what you want with your own life but she's seen where it leads to. You have seen it too. You lost a carnal over that. I'm sorry to hear it because that is never easy but that is the way it goes. A lot of my homies I lost over the years didn't even bang! I aint saying to drop your flag cause once you're in, you're in. I'm just saying to consider what your sister wants and weigh it out in your mind. If she wants you to go to college it aint cause she's trying to tell you what to do. That's just cause that's what you should do."

Pablo was surprised at this. "Serio? You think I should go to college? What about mi varrio? This is home for me, man. I don't wanna go to West Los Santos, Smiley. I know how those gueras out there are. Especially on campus. Yuppie central."

Smiley shook his head in disappointment. "That aint what it's about. You gotta get an education. Even if you do want to be a shooter out here, you gotta be smart, carnal. Street smarts and book smarts are the greatest combination a man can ever have. The barrio will be here we aint going anywhere. They can try to gentrify it all they want but this is our home. Still, if you let it limit you or drag you down it will. No question. So you should at least see what else there is. We'll always have your back, hermano."

Pablo didn't want to hear this kind of advice but out respect for Smiley he said, "Horale. I'll try. Just don't tell Delores, all right?"

Smiley laughed. "Why are you more okay with me telling you the same thing your own flesh and blood did? It aint cause she's a woman is it?"

Pablo shook his head. "Hell no! It's because she's my sister! I can't explain it, man. Something about people being related to you, I don't know, their point of view is pretty slanted from the jump. She's trying to be our mama all over again but she's only older than me by three years."

Smiley patted the kid on the back. "Don't worry about it tonight. Hey I've seen the hynas checking you out all night, perro why don't you go talk to em, Romeo?"

Pablo laughed and said, "Si mon. Later on, Smiley."

As Spider got another beer out of the cooler he laughed looking toward Smiley. "corrupting the youth, homie! Muy bien!" Smiley flipped him off but they both laughed. Just then, they heard the screech of tires and the sound of automatic fire. There were screams everywhere. The women screamed, the men cursed and staggered to get away. People ran every single direction. An SUV was driving by and a man wearing a ski mask was firing an Assault Rifle out of the window. There was also a man wearing two red bandannas over their face in the back seat with a similar weapon. Smiley fell over and dropped his beer on the pavement as he felt a hot slug tear into the side of his leg. Another round hit him in the shoulder from the front and exited out of the back.

The two gang members who had stood closest to the SUV when it had first rolled up had been hit first. The gang member who had thought they were just there to buy drugs got the worst of it as he had entry wounds in his stomach and abdomen and exit wounds in his back as he had been shredded by the rounds. He lay dead on the ground next to spilled bottles of beer. The other, was wounded and trying to crawl to safety. Smiley fell to the ground holding his wound. Peaches and Pablo ran up to the two of them. "Smiley! You all right homes? Oh shit! He's fucking hit! We need an ambulance!"

Peaches saw Spider laying on the ground hit by a single round to the temple and he lay there motionless in a pool of his own blood, a blank stare in his dead brown eyes. "No! Oh my god, please don't be dead! you can't die like this! Jesus not him too..." Peaches was crying tears falling down her cheeks. Piernas ran out into the street firing his pistol at the attacking SUV but the two gang members fired at him before he could hit them and forced him to duck behind a car as the rounds punched through the window setting off an alarm.

The man with the ski mask on leaned out of the window still firing and yelled, "Bow down, bitches! What now?!"

Once they passed by he ran after them still discharging his pistol at the fleeing vehicle. As they went back into the vehicles window he saw he had hit one of them in the back of the right arm, the one in the red but he doubted it would be a fatal shot. Pablo looked at the fallen body of Spider who he had known forever and he put his hands over his face before screaming in a roar of both grief and fury.

Peaches was hysterical about what had just happened. "Pablo! Spooky, we gotta get Smiley to a hospital. Call 911!"

Spooky shook his head. "Fuck that. You know they don't care if a vato bleeds to death out here on this side of town. We wanna save him we gotta get him there ourselves!" He turned to Pablo and requested, "Help me get him in the car!" They would take Spider's coal colored Sentinel that he had not used in a long time as he had usually used stolen vehicles. They had to go. Pablo helped him lift Smiley into the car as did Peaches. They went to recover the keys themselves. As he took the keys off of Spider, Pablo closed his eyes in mental agony.

He made the cross symbol over him and stood up. "Rest in peace, carnal. I'm sorry."

They got into the car and took off down the street.

* * *

_Ok so that's all for this chapter. Whoo that was a bitch to get completed! So that being said i should start off with some educational stuff for blondebabe and pretty much any other non Spanish speakers. Carnal is like saying bro. Hermana is sister, hermano =brother. Si mon = hell yeah Chale = Hell no. Also, words like Chorizo has a double meaning as it can refer to a penis or it can refer to a cop since Chorizo is Espanol for sausage which can be an inuendo and also refer to the animal it comes from, a pig. Oh yeah and Horale means all right but often is used like Yo. _

_When I say Douglas Parque that's basically the Spanish way to say Douglass Park. Barrio/varrio means hood or neighborhood, cliqua means gang or set, pinta means prison, chavala or leva means a punk or a pussy basically a coward, joto or maricon means faggot, lambe means brown nose but it used to mean kiss ass, mayate, tinto and llanta are all derogatory terms for blacks mayate meaning beetle, so basically calling them a june bug, llanta means tire so that's pretty self-explanatory, tinto is more of a condescending term and not as offensive as llanta or mayate. Likewise, a guera, juero, gabacho or gringo all means white boy or a racial term depending on context or ad an A instead of an O if you are talking about a woman. _

_As i said before Matones are based on the Surenos and the word Matones itself is Spanish for Hoodlums. La Trono is a parody of the beer El Corona as El Corona is Spanish for the crown, a beer often enjoyed by actual Cholos and Hispanics in general but also many non Hispanics, where as El Trono is Spanish for The Throne. Also before I forget on the more positive note words like Corazon means heart usually in reference to love and to say my love is mi amor. _

_Now that we got that out-of-the-way I should say that the Nutty Hood Rollers are based on the Nutty Blocc Compton Crips, Midnight is visually inspired by Don Cheedle and his character, Rocket who was the leader of the Crips in the movie Colors. Bullet I would say is visually inspired by Leon Robinson who was also in Colors as Killer Bee, he is an actor and a singer he was in stuff like Oz as the reformed inmate Jefferson Keene which i will later do a nod to that, and romantic movies like Waiting To Exhale. _

_Spooky I would say, is visually inspired by Jon Seda who played Chris Perez the lover of Selena in the movie about the artist of the same name. He is meant to be Lenca Indian, a tribe from El Salvador. Speaking of Selena, where i had Delores and Peaches both singing along to Amor Prohibido by Selena, that was a nod to the Saints Row 2 and 3 game where its an achievement if your character is listening to a song on the radio and they start singing along to it. They do it to such songs as So Sick By Neyo and Sister Christian by Night Ranger, etc. _

_Selena was a Tejano (Texas Chicano) singer of Mexican descent clearly more Indigenous than Spanish in ancestry as many Hispanics are, and she was the first major female artist in the Tejano music genre as it had before her been mostly male artists who made it and she was also the first to bring that kind of music to non Spanish-speaking audiences. I would highly recommend that after you all read and review please by all means go check out every song i mentioned here on you tube! Even if you dunno Spanish it's a beautiful song. I assume Amor Prohibido would be the key one if any of you did since the main character and her homegirl was singing it. _

_Lil Rob is a dope Cholo rapper and he went by the name Lil long before Lil Wayne or any fake studio gangster rappers were around to lie about what they did on the street. Since the new generation of Hip Hop fans are so obsessed with that song YOLO the motto so i figured wth and checked it out. Horrible. Just awful. Those few minutes of my life i will never get back. Drake and Lil Wayne are the worst thing to happen to Hip Hop since Tupac died. Maybe this is just bias on my part but I think Chicano rappers are the only ones still keeping it gangsta and raw anymore probably cause they were the original g's on the West Coast before anybody else did and pretty much everybody that uses the word homie or wears the clothes like the chuck taylors, dickies, khakis, plaid checkered shirts got it off them. Even the bandanna thing they did first! As for YOLO as all the tards at my college keep saying, well that motto is hella unoriginal and it was called La Vida Loca long before those punks made a song for the lame stream music scene!_

_Cause while the Crips started in 69' and the Bloods in 72' the Mexican gangs, in particular the oldest gang in L.A. and the oldest Sureno set, White Fence Barrio, was around since 1925. Anyway you could say that yes, it was NYC that invented Hip Hop and to a degree that is true but the West Coast invented gangsta rap. Hands down. Besides rap has existed in ancient cultures like the Aztecs in their art and the Romans in military chants log before Bronx NY was a city but this is just rap as we know it, in English as of 1979 when the first rap song came out. _

_Santana is a Latin rock band they have been around forever they are classic i suggest checking them out too. As for what that racist guy Chad called Delores, an anchor baby, that is what many white Americans but also many of other races will say, means a Mexican or Latin man or woman who was born in the US but had illegal immigrants for parents but since their kids were "Anchor babies" they were allowed to stay. It is a racist term and anybody that uses it deserves to get punched just like Delores did! _

_So on the racial stuff between the gangs, I try to portray the Black & Brown relations at their worst and show hatred and hostility on both sides. The Vagos are based on 18th street and 18th street is the least hostile Hispanic gang towards black folks while every Sureno set has a beat on sight, shoot on sight mentality but then, the black gangs are attacking civilians too so for people to assume that La Eme started it, is just a slanted view on what really happened. Both Blacks and Latins rioted together in 1992 during the riots but one of the crips the same guy who attacked Reginald Denny, the white truck driver just cause he was white, was also attacking Latinos too even though Latinos were helping! _

_So while putting a green light on an entire community may seem extreme, just know the media is slanted on it and don't even count on what led up to the anti black hostility among Latin gangs. There are two sides to every story. Though 18th street often beefs with various Sureno cliquas, they will work together later as La Onda (Standing in for La Eme yes i got that from Blood In Blood Out) will make the Hispanic gangs stop fighting each other on the streets the same as they would in prison. _

_One interesting thing about the Mexican Mafia is that they often speak in code using the Aztec Nahuatl language to give orders instead of English or Spanish since the authorities already have people who could translate those. Many people, usually so called patriotic Americans, IE,xenophobic who are being territorial over a land that doesn't belong to them will say that because the Aztecs contrast so much to other American Indian tribes they can't be Native because they are polytheist and they had human sacrifice. Well that is ignorant! What people gotta understand is there are at least 500 tribes all over the Americas some are polytheist, some are monotheist like mine and many in South America are Pan theist. Plus i know they just say that to discredit when Hispanics say the border policy is bullshit considering they are native but the white Americans who enforce it are descended from the true illegal immigrants. _

_I saw a friend of mine a Mexican native girl put a picture on face book saying No amnesty for pilgrims and their anchor babies. lol. I had to laugh at that. Cause its true! They were the true and original aliens and they didn't have documents! Speaking of pilgrims, to protest the holiday about genocide, what i call Thanks Taking, I actually fasted 25 hours until the holiday was over. I am proud of myself for that :) _

_Not trying to step on toes or anything just explaining some of the racial dynamics and historical contexts is all. Plus like I always say, I will always speak on it as long as there are contradictions, inequalities and double standards. _

_So moving on from the negativity before I forget like i said Peaches is visually inspired by Jessica Alba cause she is so pretty and seems like the type of fun person who would do like what she did with Delores regarding their song plus i love those pouty lips :P _

_Delores as i mentioned is inspired by Michelle Rodriguez, the worlds hottest Tomboy. That girl who Bullet was screwing when they walked in was visually inspired by Stacie Lane, a porn star, down to every detail. Also the mission where Spooky wanted Delores to kill that drug dealer is a reference to the song Dope Man by NWA where the Mexican guy in the song goes "Yo mr. Dope man you think you're slick/ you sold crack to my sister and now she's sick/ but if she happens to die because of your drug/ I'm putting in your culo a .38 slug"_

_lol that was too epic to not have in there. Oh before I forget Jean Tamany is a parody of Sean Hannity, Tamany being a reference to Tamany Hall where all the stuck up rich bourgeoise types lived in the movie Gangs Of NY while the poor Irish immigrants lived in the slums of the Five Points what is now Manhattan. I made fun of him cause basically I know his type the kind of rich guy or supposedly hard-working American who thinks that everybody who was ever on welfare or food stamps is lazy and a leech. Not taking into account that they probably don't know anybody on welfare. _

_Later on there will be more instances where Delores and the Vagos work together with the Rollers and all though the matones are beefing with the black gangs I will have the Vagos be somewhat of a go between. The biggest antagonist of course will be the law and the guys that killed Delores's boyfriend and her unborn child. Oh and Pablo is visually inspired by Jacob Vargas. He played Ernesto in Mi Vida Loca and Joker in Next Friday. I should mention i changed the setting of this story back to 2009 as this will start in 2009 but may time hop later. I also named certain missions after songs like Good Die Young, a song by D12. _

_Machine Gun Diplomacy is a reference to when Three Dog, the DJ from Fallout 3 used the term Shotgun Diplomacy regarding the lone wanderer rescuing a boy named Ian West from a nest of vampires in underground D.C. tunnels. Oh and please don't hesitate to leave longer reviews trust me the more detailed the better :P I am an author we love it! At least I do that is. _

_I may not be as funny or good with parodies as Metal Harpinger but i do try let me know what also makes you laugh! Or what characters you like, which fight scenes were best, etc. _

_Last but not least, the Kruger Street Ballas are based on the real life gang the Elm Street Pirus and since there is that movie The Nightmare on Elm Street many rival Crips refer to themselves as that as in they are a nightmare to Elm street gang members when they come around. Eastern avenue is based on Atlantic Avenue and Greenwood is based on Green Leaf, a major street in Compton controlled by the Nutty Blocc Crips. The scene where midnight killed the Baller with the shotgun as he rolled by was inspired by the first gang shooting in Colors which was done by Rocket as he rolled up on a Blood he goes, "Hey blood" and then shoots him in the same way. _

_OK, so sorry for the wait everybody! This chapter was brought to you by Reece's barbershop and Blood In Blood Out. Cuando! I'm gonna need a trim, homes! lol I'm sorry again, i couldn't resist quoting that movie when Milklo said that to a barbershop in East L.A. after getting home from Vegas. it's such a good movie and believe it inspired much of San Andreas's scenery I can't wait for GTA V. Still they'd probably be better off making a female character._

_Oh shit! Also Little Spitz is inspired by the Latin rapper Lil G, who is a member of Eighteenth Street gang. He wrote such songs as Real Life and Letter To Dr. Dre. There are rumors he was shot but i won't believe it until I know for sure they said the same thing about Wesley Snipes and it was false. _

_OK well that's all from me, muchachos! I will try to update sooner! _


	4. Chaos

_As promised I'm back! OK so let's get this shit going! So now with that last cliff hanger Spider has been killed and Smiley has been wounded in a drive-by which was retaliation for the hit done at the Baldwin Aldea Housing Projects that Pablo, Spider and Piernas all did on the Ballas. The messed up thing about the gang world one thing I will say is often when people go on a mission for revenge a lot of times you don't get the people who actually did it and so the gangsters out for revenge will usually just take it out on somebody wearing the colors or being part of the same cliqua but not being the ones that did the deed. It's messed up that you can die over something you didn't do but then I can see both sides of it. Cause how frustrating would it be to not know who actually did it?_

_Killed somebody you cared about? So the mentality that comes with it, is shoot everybody out there and if you get everybody from that hood, one of the people you are bound to hit are gonna be one of the ones you want maybe even all of them. You might think there aint a way to do that now but there are actuall a lot of L.A. gangs that aren't active any longer because rivals took their hoods This is the case for a lot of Compton gangs being taken under by those under the Sureno banner. Also you got gangs like the Atlantic Drive Gangsta Crips who were once a force to be reckoned with in the 90's but as the years went by, Kelly Park, who now is almost an extinct set themselves, actually took more of the Atlantic Drive hood and what they didn't take, the Comptone Surenos or Varrio gangs did, probably one of the most hardcore Sureno set is the Compton Varrio Tortilla Flats. , that's all for now._

* * *

_Vagos Por Vida_

Delores and Pablo were at the funeral for Junior. Delores did not know Juni very well or his relatives at all but she had been there when the poor kid had died. She could tell he had been a good kid. In a way, he reminded her of how Pablo used to be before he saw the neighborhood at it's very worst and before he had been jumped into the cliqua. Pablo had been sweet and innocent like that too. At least he was in elementary school and hadbeen in middle school to some degree, even if by then he was a bit mischievous. Then again what boy at that age wasn't? By High School, however, she had noticed that his innocence had started to fade. Still, he had cared about this poor kid who had been with them and had been killed by a rival. He shouldn't have been there. _Then again, neither should I. None of us should have been there! I aint really doing much else as an alternative but that kid had a chance at doing something more than that._

They had been at a Catholic church first and the casket was open. She had no idea why so many funerals allowed that. For her she wasn't sure whether or not she believed in an afterlife but she did know one thing. Once that person was dead, the person that they once were was gone. The body was just a shell. Why leave it open to show that person in such a state? If all these people did believe in heaven and hell, why not just have the casket closed and have pictures of him up to show what he was like when he was alive? Why not show as he was, alive and laughing, if they believed that he was somewhere, still happy, in the hereafter, if he was living it up somewhere in a paradise just beyond death, why not have only the positive things about the deceased to remind the congregation of the good times in his life? Why show what he was now, empty, dead, stiff, not moving, a shadow of his former self?

Sure, Juni had been a good looking boy but there had been more to him than that. It was his personality that had made him vibrant. Even before Delores got mixed up in the drama in the hood, she still remembered how Junior and Pablo would hang out a lot at the house. She had always been too wrapped up in her own business most times or out with Carlos but in some cases, she had stayed at home and watched movies with the two of them. Maybe it was false for her to say that she didn't know him. The more fair thing to say was that she did not know him as much as Pablo did but she knew he was a good kid. Sure, he had been lured into the gang life when he clearly wasn't cut for it but what kid from the barrio didn't get lured into it?

For the young boys, they saw the nice cars, the low riders, the Savananah's, the Stallions, the customized cars and sometimes even sports cars that the most successful dope dealers from the varrio had. They also saw the homeboys they had, the back up they had and the easy money they made plus the women they got. It wasn't like the money was the only reason that the women were drawn to guys like that. While there were gold diggers in pretty much every community, every neighborhood, for the most part this wasn't why the women went for these guys. That was why Brown gangs differed from Black gangs, where the motto was "First you get the power then you get the pussy" which to Delores was tricking. For girls that were attracted to guys Latin gangs, it wasn't about money. Sure, it came with it, but at the same time, it was more about security. A man that could keep them safe. An Indian warrior like those in the past, told of in Chicano households at night by Elders, usually a grandmother or grandfather, who had fought the Conquistadors in their lust for gold. Or at least, the modern day version.

A man who was both feared and respected. It was also on some Bonnie and Clyde shit. Two against the world. That was how she had been with Carlos but he had been taken from her. With women in gangs, it was about being respected. As a woman and not a bitch. While it was true many male members did disrespect them, in most cases a woman that could prove she was good in a fight whether it was with a gun, her bare hands, a knife or a razor blade she snuck in her mouth, if a woman could be a fighter as much as a man, she was bound to get respect. Even more so, a woman in a gang was not to be fucked with.

They could be the girl of your dreams but if you pissed them off, you were a dead man. So in a sense, she could understand why Juni had been drawn to the gang life but she could tell that the way he acted, he was not a gang member. She hadn't been as vocal about it as Piernas had and she normally was vocal on her opinions but she thought that if she just gave him a chance, he would prove himself. She remembered how scared she had been when she did her first drive-by. She had gone to a rival neighborhood full of Matones and fired a pistol out of a window of a car when she was still in High School and when and her were the young lovers and the talk of the varrio.

She had ended up hitting two guys wounded but not killing but she remembered she had shot a man who had been the age Pablo was now and she just remembered he had been wearing a blue football jersey with the number 13 on it and she had hit him at least five times. She had later seen the news footage of the shooting and they had shown his picture and all though she had not killed the Matone, she had put him a wheelchair for the rest of his life. She thought about that a lot even to this day. So maybe she had thought Juni would man up and be a ruthless vato like Piernas and Spider were or how Smiley had been longer than that but he was not. His last brave move, perhaps in his mind, what he thought would make him seem like he was brave and not a punk, had gotten him killed. Seeing that boy laying in the coffin like that shook her to her core.

When the church had sang hymns it was almost like she felt the singing of church songs would suddenly awaken the dead boy as Jesus had done to the dead many times, and that he would sit up and be just fine. That was how unreal it seemed. After the service at the church it was taken to the cemetery. She was grateful once the casket had been closed. They now stood in the graveyard as the priest read from the bible regarding the afterlife as Juni had been baptized into the church.

She looked to her left as tears rolled down her cheek as the eulogy for the boy was given. His actual name was Raul Figuera Jr. but most called him Junior or Juni. Pablo had his shades on an she knew that he must have been trying to conceal his own tears. The priest read from Psalms. "The lord is my Sheppard I shall not want . He maketh me to lie down in greener pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake."

Juni's parents were sobbing as were all the friends and family present who were not banging. A coupl of the vagos present were tear less but their faces had sorrow in them at seeing another youth from their varrio being taken too soon. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil. For thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Though preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemy. Though annointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy) shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

The congregation said amen and said final words. Delores looked down and looked at the parents who were still in tears. Many of Juni's classmates had come as well. Smiley was still in the hospital for his gunshot wounds in the drive-by. The funeral for Spider had been three days ago. Only gang members and some residents of the neighborhood has shown up. His family was back in Honduras so the only family he had in the United States was the Vagos.

"So we say farewell to Raul Figuera Jr. A young man who had so much potential and so much joy to bring to the lives of those he touched that was cut short before he could fully blossom. We remember him as a dedicated member of the church and an honor roll student in High School. He was a loving son and a cherished member of the community. We ask you lord to bring him into your embrace. For though we weep, we know that he can rejoice in finding eternal bliss. In Jesus name we pray. Amen."

Juni's mother and father spotted Pablo after the funeral was over. They came straight over. The mother slapped him across the face. "¡Usted hijo de una perra! ¡Mató a mi chico pequeño! ¡Cómo pueda usted?" **(You son of a bitch! You killed my little boy! How could you?!)**

She slapped him again and again and he did nothing. Delores knew that in any other situation he would have knocked her out but she could see in his saddened expression as he stared at the ground that he felt he deserved it. Juni's father pulled her away and then come back and gave Pablo a hard stare. "You know...the Vagos were never about killing one another. None of these gangs were! Matones, it was about protecting our people not killing them."

He began to raise his voice, " Una raza dividida no sobrevivirá," **(A race divided will not survive.)**

Delores could tell Pablo was feeling bombarded but she actually agreed with what he was saying. "¿Quién plantará la semilla de nuestra cultura si somos todos muertos?" **(Who is going to plant the seed of our culture if we're all dead?**

Delores could feel the man's pain and she agreed with everything he was saying but still, she knew that Pablo was a youth and she also knew that he was in grief too at the loss of his friend and even if Juni's parents did not care about that or blamed him and even wanted nothing to do with him, it was his loss and if she knew anything about her baby brother, it was that he was not good at learning anything when he was upset or preoccupied with death. Even if the death in itself was a potential lesson in the dangers of gang life. Right or wrong, he was familia.

She addressed the father. "Calme,, tripule él no tuvo nada que ver con esto. Advirtió Juni para no montarse ese camión y él no escuchó,"**(Calm down,, man he had nothing to do with this. He warned Juni not to get on that truck and he didn't listen.)**

This got the man to speak even louder. "¡Mi hijo no debe haber estado allí en todo! ¡Trataba de demostrarse siendo tan tonto como su propio hermano era! Trato de ayudar este chico aprende algo. El quizá un asno mudo pero yo no quieren ver otro uno de nuestra juventud sufre el mismo destino como Junior,"** (My son should not have been there at all! He was trying to prove himself by being as much of a fool as your own brother was being! I am trying to help this boy learn something. He maybe a dumb ass but I don't want to see another one of our youth suffer the same fate as Junior.)**

Finally, Raul Sr. began speaking in a calmer voice in English. "These pendejos out here, they aren't Vagos! Or Southsiders. They had more honor than that! All these youth out here killing today are not real Ese's, not real cholos or pachucos or whatever it is they call themselves nowadays. Killing each other in the street was not what it was originally about and these kids that do what they do, like your brother, are not helping La Causa!"

Pablo stared back at the older man and so did Delores. He had never been a member of the Vagos but he had seen the forming of a lot of the varrios and cliquas in the 70's. He remembered when La Onda and all the gangs under it's control were simply out to protect their people in and out of prison.

He continued, "These vatos were just defending their neighborhood and their race. I knew some of the original Vagos, I knew guys that started a lot of the cliques around Los Santos. They even used to roll with the Brown Berets and get out of the gangs or try to make them revolutionary from within! The Brown Berets organized gangs in East Los and every L.S. barrio. It was about defending against the people that attacked and hurt us, whether they were white or black. We didn't kill our own people! We didn't feed them poison and we didn't ever hurt their chance for success. That is what La Raza was about. Not this Brown on Brown violence."

Pablo didn't seem to know what to say so it appeared as though he said the first thing to come to mind. "Those faggots who did this aint gonna get away with it. I guarantee that."

Raul Figuera Sr. grabbed him by the collar and growled, "Don't you go killing in the name of my son for some misguided vengeance trip! If you didn't care enough to keep him alive, why the hell should you care if he's dead or not?" He walked away, furious. As Delores and Pablo walked out of the cemetery she turned to her younger brother. "Well I hope you learned a lesson, mijo! This is not gonna stop if you keep this shit up. I'm not the most hardcore person from the hood but I've got a lot more stripes than you and even I'm fucking tired of it!"

Pablo snapped at her as though he had pent up rage that finally exploded. "Fuck you, Delores! I'm not a goddamn baby anymore! I'm sick of you thinking you know what's best for me! You, me, mama, we all end up dead one day anyway so who really cares what day it happens? Your friends die no matter what you do, it has nothing to do with banging. We're just out here on the front lines, Esa! Mankind has had war as long as it existed. It's the human way. That's never going to change. That guy may have had some good points on La Raza but he's a punk if he doesn't want to go get the vatos that killed his only son. If that was my son I'd be cocked, locked and loaded. You can be a leva if you want, Del but I'm finding the guys that did this and I'm putting them in the ground."

Delores raged, "You're stupid you know that? You didn't learn a damn thing from seeing your friend get shot did you? Piernas thought he wasn't cut out for this and he felt he had something to prove! If you had said it, Juni would have listened to you and went home! Now you know how I feel about you repping the Vagos but like Smiley said there isn't anything I can do right now. Still, even I know you were more cut for it than he was. Juni should have never been anywhere near that drug deal. If it weren't for Piernas and his macho bullshit or you trying to tell him banging is cool, he'd probably still be alive right now!"

Pablo spat, "You know what, Delores, I didn't want to pull this card but you're a coward. Why else would you get jumped into the cliqua and then suddenly decide to step out when Carlos gets killed? You think we wouldn't lose people we are about? For the people want no part of this, that's fine they can do what they want but you wanna leave as soon as the going gets tough? That means you were never down. Now I aint looking to go off to college so I can forget who I am and try to live like these gringos, be like them, talk like them be friends with them and marry them. That's bullshit. You wanna go to college, chica? Nobody's stopping you. Don't expect me to go there though where I know I'll be out of place."

Delores rolled her eyes. "How are you out of place, Pablo? This is our home, San Andreas always has been this is our land! You know what Tierra Robdada means, Ese? It means stolen land! That's what all of this is so if you want to go to college you can! This is your about those Brown pride books you used to read back in High School? Don't you know this is Atzlan? We live here we always have. They may have deported papi but they aint gonna do that to us. I won't let them. You gotta choose the right path, Pablo. If you expanded your mind and went to college, you could really help the varrio if you wanted to. Out here all you're doing is getting into trouble."

Pablo removed his shades and she could see that indeed he had been crying under them but what had been sad during the funeral service was now a burning rage. "You got jumped into the hood too, Delly. You're as much a part of it as I am, even more maybe. Now maybe you were in over your head when you took that jump in but I'm not. I meant it when I said Vagos for life. You'd better mean it too. Defend the varrio to the death or otherwise you aint shit. Now I'm gonna get these little jotos that laid out Juni. Fuck what his dad said. He may have a point about La Causa, about La Raza and everything he said but I'll kill anybody who kills one of my homies. No matter what their background is. That's the warrior code. You want me to abandom that? It's in our blood."

He walked out and approached Piernas who wore his usual Fedora he sometimes wore to look more classy and his black tuxedo. He had a can of beer hidden in a paper bag that he was drinking out of. "What's up homie. You all right, hermano? Hey I didn't mean t bag on the little vato so hard que no? It's just the way it is. I hoped he would become a part of the crew. Even if he seemed soft if he did have some cojones hey you never know sometimes even the baddest guys in the barrio need somebody who's a bit more soft and tolerant. You can't be soft twenty four seven but you can't be hard all the time either."

Pablo nodded looking down. "Are we gonna get these fuckers or what, P? I say we go put some hot slugs in their heads. Send Juni some company."

Pirnas laughed. "Yeah I hear you, dawg. Then again, Juni was too good to even go to hell, huh? He had the making of a saint. Give this city the meaning of it's name back and have it reall stand for something. These fools that shot him they're going to hell. Then again so am I but that won't be for a while," He took a sip of the beer he was drinking which was Cockeyed malt liquor. He added, "Hey but maybe Juni can catch their asses in the middle. Somewhere in puragtory or sheole que no? Beat em up while he waits," He then poured some of the drink on the ground. "Rest in peace, J. At least you went out doing someething ballsy."

With that, after all the family and friends who did not bang were finished passing the coffin that was now in the ground and had thrown their piece of dirt onto it, the Vagos walked by, throwing down Brown and Black flags into the coffin with him and flashing the Vago gang sign as they went by followed by a peace sign. This was their way of saying that even though he had never killed anybody and had not put in any real work for the varrio, he was still one of them and they counted him among their fallen soldiers. It was the acceptance he had been waiting for but had died before he could get it. Vrtually all of the Vagos Delores usually hung out with were there. Peaches crossed herself and tossed a rose in the grave. Finally, they began to bury the boy and the funeral was officially over. Perirnas patted Delores on the back and he said, "How you holding up?"

She shook her head. "Just another pointless death. How about you? Im sorry about Spider. I know he two of you wer close."

Piernas nodded and took another sip of beer. "He was a good brother, man. I'll miss him. I know it was the Ballas. They were shooting anybody that they could hit. In a way. I feel like I should have been the one to catch those bullets. Smiley didnt deserve getting shot and neither did Spider. I know it was payback for that hit me and Pablo did in their hood but it's still jacked up. Smiley had nothing to do with that hit. I'm glad he's alive but still he shouldn't have even been hit at all. He wasn't there and as for Spider he didn't really shoot anybody. Me and Pablo were the ones who did the dirt. Itt should have been me that got hit. It would have been more fair."

Delores snorted. "Since when has drive-by strays ever been fair? They rarely get the peple they want. Don't say that, Gabriel. You may have done what you did but if you deserved to catch bullets then so did Pablo but I don't want that to happen to either one of you."

Gabriel threw the beer can away in a garbage after he finished it. "Yeah but I can't gurantee it won't be us one day. I know you don't like that he got jumped in but it's too late it was what he said he wanted. I can feel your anger, girl but I can't tell you what you want to hear. One of these days it could be Pablo. I know you were against it from the start but I'm just asking, do you really think he's exempt from that just cause he's tu famila?"

Delores sighed. "I dont know, Piernas. I guess I was just hoping that he'd tire out from this shit and then just see what I meant all along. I don't want it to cost him his life but I feel guilty today because I amost felt like maybe Junior getting murdered did have a purpose. Maybe it could have helped him say what probably lied ahead for him too. I know that was selfish and maybe that's Gods way of punishing me for it. I'm not religious and I don't even know what's really out there but if there is a God, maybe he was punishing me by having Juni's death have the exact opposite effect on Pablito. I heard what you said to him too, Gabe. I know you feel that same way. You think you're headed for hell. What about your choice to avoid that? Its never too late. Maybe not even for me. It's all about will power."

Gabriel scoffed at that. "Sabes Que, Del, you know what my problem with that is? Preachers tell you we all have a choice and everything right and that it is on us to take the path to destruction or salvation. They sucker in congregations with promises of salvation when a lot of them are doomed. How do any of us know were not fucked even if we do change? It also says in the bible that God knows everything we were gonna do and he knew everything that would happen before it happened. He knew Judas would betray Jesus, he knew Cain would kill his brother. So that also means he knows which of us are going to hell and which go to heaven and if that's what it is, Esa, none of us who are hell bound can do anything about it even if we do repent! Cause even we did manage to change ourselves and then he decided ok you can go to heaven, doesn't that mean proving God wrong which is supposed to be impossible? I can't take mixed messages. Not in life or in religion."

They got out to the gate near the grave yard and Piernas looked at her and said, "Oye Delores. I just got word back from my homeboy about those punks who stole the yayo and killed Junior though. See my homie was driving through Pico and saw several of those bitches chilling in their neighborhood. Then as he drove by one house he said he saw that same truck I was looking for. See I told everybody from the varrio to be on the look out for that truck and he saw the exact kind. They didn't even spray paint it or nothing! It had a tarp over it too so they probably were covering that up. Anyway he just saw them pull into a garage but he remembers where it was. Me and Pablo are on our way over there to go hit those fools up and see about getting our stuff back. You in?"

She did not want to go of course but she felt that if Pablo was going to be there she should too. While she could not stop him from banging and she could not be around him all the time, she was not going to let him get hurt if she could help it. She would try to be around him as much as possible so she could watch his back. Of course, sexist paradigms in America would have people that it was him who was supposed to look out for her. While she knew that Pablo had her back as much as she had his, she could always look out for herself and while he was capable of holding his own in a fight, she was not so sure about his better judgements on when to pick and choose battles. That was why she always had to look out for him. Plus sometimes he got a little too carried away and ahead of himself when he was in trouble and fighting somebody.

She exhaled but said. "Yeah. Let's go. If you guys are going to get your little revenge trip, we might as well get it done and get it over with. Just let's not fuck around this time and we need to make sure we're out of there before the cops get there. Where is this place at?"

Gabriel told her straight up. "Pico-Unity. Their original varrio. We hit those punks up in their own neighborhood and then we get back to Douglass Parque later on and we kick them out of ours. They forget, Esa that's always been our neighborhood and now ever since the 80's they think they can just come and take over our varrio? Chale. They've been hitting us pretty hard lately and I think it's time we hit them back. On their own turf."

She nodded "Okay but you guys better watch out for mi hermano as much as I am, okay? You're the ones who lured him into this. He may have made his own choice but that's not saying much since he had you vatos acting like it was cool to be down with this life."

Piernas nodded. "I got it, Del but the thing is, he made a choice and I really can't control him anymore than you can. He has to answer to Smiley nobody else. I'm the big homie to him but I can only give advice. He can take it or leave it either way. All I gotta say is, he can do all those things you want him to he can go to college and get a job. A lot of vatos are doing that anyway! Me, I'm a part time electrician when I aint slinging and putting it down for the varrio. Pablo can get himself a trade. Be smart about his feria. If he has a job it will make the IRS less likely to fuck with him. The Posers and the Ball Less could learn a thing or two from us."

She knew he was using the derogatory term for Ballas and for Rollers. "They're stupid. They sling crack but they don't got a front for it and then they wonder why the chotas fuck with them twice as hard. The Ballas used to have control of this town cause the other side had set tripping and in hood beef in the 90's. Before that, the Rollers were running things but they were just Family hoods. They're days are numbered and I think they know it. Even the fuckin Mara Putas and the punk ass Matones are smart enough to do the same thing we do and have a job on the side so everything looks legit."

She nodded. "Well, shouldn't we go get changed if we are gonna do what you said we were? Who all is going besides you and Pablo?"

Piernas informed her, "Spooky has to pick his ride up out of the auto repair shop in Willowfield and then he'll scoop one of the homies up and meet us in Pico-Unity. We can take my car, and we'll meet those vatos near Unity Station before we hit these fuckers. Come on, homie, vamos! I wanna beat traffic."

They got into his car and it was agreed that Delores would drive since he wanted to drink another beer which he had laying in the seat he wanted to work on. Delores drove the black Voodoo out of the neighborhood. They were still in the barrio which was North West of downtown but they were not quite in Pico-Unity. Gabriel looked at Delores and asked, "Hey, how's the hand, sunshine? What's up with it? When does that bandage come off?"

She looked at him and said, "Another few days or so. Maybe more. That's why I got the gloves on. I shouldn't have been out there doing that. I just contributed to what the system wanted. One of these days, that shit is gonna catch up to me. With this banging shit, I know we're supposed to live day to day but I worry about my future every night. I know I don't have a choice in the matter or anything. I just got no other way to make money and this doesn't really make much but it's enough to get by and that's all I can do. I should have learned my lesson with Carlos dying but I didn't. Here we are about to do the same thing."

Piernas scoffed. "Look I know life in the varrio aint easy but what else is there? Go live up in Market? Even if you do make it out of the varrio and get a high paying job and live on the hod let me tell you, Esa. It doesn't make a difference because the majority of your people will still be having it hard. I hear what you're saying we're our own worst enemy sometimes but what are we supposed to do? These putos smoked Carlos. That shit aint cool especially when he was looking to straighten his life out. Having a kid, that's the only way out. Well, not the only way out but it is the only ticket out still alive. He knew what he was in for when he got down and he tried to leave the life. You know, the homies found it hard to swallow but then, they respected him but the Truchas? They never gave a fuck about that they don't care if you're going straight or not. For them it's all about getting even and you know what? That's what I'd do too if I saw one of those Mara Putas trying to walk away from the life. Chale, homes! It's a cold world bt hey if you aint cold with it, you don't last que no?"

Delores didn't agree with him. "When the hell does it end? I'm not talking about leaving at all but I wanna do something with my life. I owe that much to Carlos and mi mijo. I lost them both. I owe it to them to make a change for the 's always about some revenge trip! Always about a dead homeboy or homegirl but when does it end? The twelfth of never?! I'm not talking about moving into some rich neighborhood and you're right there will always be people from the varrio who suffer even when some of us run off and never look back but I'm talking about making our lives better here! What about the little ones who get jumped in like Pablo did? They won't even know half the homies they're riding for that are gone. That's what keeps these wars going!"

The seasoned gang banger rolled his eyes. "What are we supposed to do, huh? Those Ballas came through our neighborhood shooting and they killed Spider and they shot Smiley. Smiley didn't have shit to do with the hit in Baldwin Aldea and as for Spider, all he did was drive the fucking van. Are we supposed to let those fuckers get away with that? Just call up the head honcho from their hood and say 'Horale, its cool, homes! It was only our homeboy' Fuck that. That's what a leva does. I aint forgotten about them and you know what, Smiley might be thinking he's being diplomatic with what he's trying to do working with the Rollers but in the end, they aint gonna be any different than the Matones. Worse even! The Ballas fucked us and soon the Rollers will too. Now he can get some of the homies in on that shit but I aint cool with that. Neither is Baby Loco."

Delores looked at him like he was crazy. "Little What?! I know you aint talking about my brother, man! You really are trying to make him into you aren't you? Another thing, Piernas, Spider may not have had anything to do with the deaths of those Ballas but I'd say that in a way by the laws of street justice, karma came back to get him. I was hearing on the news you fools got a innocent bystander too. Some guy from Africa. Ring any bells? Now I don't know which of you did it but he was the wrong person and then when the payback came they got the wrong person. Don't get me wrong, I want the guys that killed the two people most important to me besides Pablo but I know they aint gonna be where we're going! They'll never be the ones we want, Gabe. Even if they are, how will we ever know? The hood runs on random tragedies even if somebody gets the right guy they might not ever know and they might still be after the same person thinking they still haven't got him even when they did a long time ago and didn't realize it."

Pablo was silent and did not say anything. He was stone faced. He just focused on the streets passing him by in the window. They got to Unity Station and parked out front waiting. Pablo had two pistols and he loaded them up. He finally did speak up as he looked at the surrounding area. "Spooky better hurry up, eh. I don't like being around here too long. This is hostile turf. It has been for a while."

Piernas took a sip of beer and looked at Delores. "You got a cuete?" She shook her head. He nodded and told her, "Don't worry, I got you covered," He opened the glove box once again and handed her a Beretta. "Spooky is bringing a little something something just in case any of us were carrying light."

They finally saw the homies pull up in a gray Landstalker. Spooky got out and opened the back of the SUV. He had Little Spitz with him and two homies from the varrio. Little Spitz wore a pair of black and white basketball shorts and he wore a Bayland Pirates football jersey which was black and gray in color. Over this he wore a silver jacket. He had on brand new shoes as well that were red and white in color and looked like they costed $500. _He must be making a killing off of the drug trade. At least he aint running out of feria to cover the equipment for a studio. At least one would think..._

Spooky was dressed in a black black and white checkered shirt which he had over an orange shirt and he also had tan khaki pants on, his ponytail tied to the back, he also had a brown rag around his neck and sunglasses on.

The two gang bangers with Spooky had no colors on and no sign of gang affiliation aside from their tattoos. One of them wore a navy blue T shirt under an L.S. Saints baseball jersey, with the number 7 on the back. He wore black jeans and all white sneakers. He had a goatee and a mustache and he had a tattoo of the Virgin Mary on his right forearm and on his left forearm, he had a tattoo that said **Vagos Por Vida. **He also had a tattoo on each eye lid. On his left eye lid he had the number 1 and number 8 on his right eye lid. The other gang member was bald and brown skinned and he wore a dark red T shirt with the name **Fernando Martinez **on it. On his right forearm he had tattoos to disrespect each gang they were beefing with.**BK **for Baller Killa **RK **for Roller Killer, and FK or **Flora Killa.  
**

He wore a pair of baggy gray jeans and a pair of sunglasses. As the gang members greeted each other, Piernas heckled the gang member in the dark red shirt. "Oye Chavo what the fuck is up with the red homes? You look like a pinche North Side chavala with those gay ass colors, homie! The fuck?! This aint San Fierro, Ese!"

The gang member flipped him off. "Fuck off, Cabron I'll wear what I want. Besides, Fernando is funny and you know it!" Spooky was passing out guns from the back of the SUV. He gave a Mac-10 to Piernas. He gave an MP5 to Pablo and asked, "You think you can handle this kind of shit, carnalito? Let me show you how to use it first, homes."

There was a third gang member there too who had arrived in a car of his own but presumably had been contacted by Spooky for the hit on the Truchas. Unlike the other two, this guy was wearing gang colors. He had a short flat top hair cut and stood about five foot nine. He wore a white Madd Dogg T shirt on that read in dark red letters **It's a Dog Eat Dog World** under the scowling face of the famous rapper who was cuddled up next to Rochell'len R&B singer who had been famous in the early 90's.

Over this he wore a military green windbreaker over it. He wore some baggy jean shorts that came down to his ankles and he wore a Brown Arrows football hat, the football team of Carcer City. Under it he had a brown bandanna and he also had another tied around his neck.

The three cholos with Little Spitz brought their own pistols and so did he. He loaded up his pistol and he had a laser for the firearm. Passing out weapons also, was a female gang banger. She wore a pair of gray pants, a black tube top that exposed her midriff, and a leather jacket over it. Her name was Maria Gonzales. She was a Vagos gang member too. She was a homegirl and all though she was from the varrio, Delores didn't like her very much. She was okay sometimes but she always saw her as a ghetto snob.

Like somebody who ought to be in Vinewood Hills or Red County or Market. It was like she was down for the neighborhood but she seemed out of place, as though she belonged in a rich neighborhood instead. Like the kind one saw in bad TV shows. Still, at times, being a Vago was more like being in a team than a family and sometimes even in families there were people that disliked each other. They were like a team in the sense that despite their differences they still had to work together.

She handed Delores the shotgun she had purchased the other day. "Que tal amiga? Here's your shotgun. Be sure and wipe off your prints when you're done with them."

Delores thanked her. They loaded and readied their weapons and began to get back into their respective vehicles and drove up one more block. Everybody who had bandannas for their faces put them on, as did the banger in the Carcer City hat. They all parked like they would in a convoy, then got out of their vehicles again and crept up on foot. They spotted some gang members chilling on the corner.

Everybody else just walked through the hood going about their business and the bangers paid them no mind. Two gang members stood next to each other in front of a house. One wore a white tank top and black jeans and the other wore a white T shirt and some blue dickies. The man in the Dickies was a Matone gang member, the most powerful Hispanic gang in San Andreas and the entire country. Technically the Vagos were Matones even and so was every gang in Southern San Andreas, even if they considered themselves an independent gang. They were still Matones and that included the old school Aztecas and every barrio they ever beefed with because they answered to La Onda when they went to prison. Even the female gang members answered to them despite not there not being any female members of La Onda since the organized Mexican prison gang had started in a men's prison.

'

The other gang member was a Trucha, indicated by his tattoos and not his colors as he was dressed in non gang colors. "So check it out homes. I'm looking to make a come up, dawg. Serio. Big way for everybody in the varrio to make some feria. I'm willing to be generous on it but I need to know if you're in or out. Whatever you say, make sure you mean it, entiendes?"

They were engaged in a conversation and oblivious to the gang members from Douglass Park creeping through yards and hopping fences making their way toward them. As Delores stayed around the side of the Voodoo she wondered what Maria was with them for but then as she saw her casually walking by a trio of Truchas who were clearly armed or at least two of them were, and they wolf whistled at her. "Aye mamacita! Where you from, mija? What's your number, hermosa?" She suddenly turned around with a Mac-11 as she reached inside of her jacket and declared, "Dieciocho."

With that, she opened fire on the three men. They never stood a chance and did not get a chance to even blink. The rounds rattled them. They collapsed to the ground on top of each other. The two gang members talking business noticed and withdrew their own guns. She unloaded fifteen rounds in the Trucha. She tried to turn her weapon on the other, the guy in the white shirt and dickies turned his gun on her. He fired a shot at her and grazed her in the side and then four more shots hit her in the abdomen. She staggered back at the impact of the bullets but her adrenaline kept her going. She was not phased by it. Delores saw that she too, was wearing body armor. It was a smart move. She often thought she was the only gang member smart enough to. Maria did not have time to reload before the Matone fired another two rounds into her chest. "You wanna come into my varrio, and start shit? Now you die, pinche chavala! This is a Matones hood! No Faketeens allowed!" With that he kicked her in the left side near the ribs.

Delores racked the shotgun and fired a shot hitting him in both the side and his back because of the angle he was in, the blast hit him in the right shoulder as well as the small of his back. She could see some gruesome parts of his insides as the blast left a big hole in his shirt and in his back. She pumped again and helped Maria to her feet. "Fucking black rags, Ese! ¿Qué espera usted, los chavos? ¡Malgástelos!" Shouted a member of the Truchas who had taken cover behind a parked white Hermes and was firing his pistol from cover. He fired and hit Delores with two stray rounds in her side one of which grazed her on the arm and her hip while the other caught the side of the vest and luckily did not go through. She fired at the side of the car he was on and saw glass flying and heard him cry out indicating she had at least wounded him.

One Trucha fired a 9mm from his own porch at Delores and hit her three times in the back. "Fucking Vago hood rat! You know you don't belong in our varrio! Go back to Doberman Park where you came from, pussy!"

The gang member known as Chavo as Delores heard Gabe call him, fired at three thugs running up the street. He hit one of them in the lower waist, and two more times in the bladder. The gang member collapsed in pain and his homies left him there and pursued Chavo, firing at him. Chavo took cover running up the steps into somebody's front lawn but took three rounds in the back as he did. He was wounded but not dead yet he still collapsed on the grass. The gang member who had shot him followed him into the yard but he already had his pistol aimed at the yard entrance from his position on the blood stained grass. He fired five shots off and hit the guy as he came in, three in the stomach, one in the neck, and one in the Adams apple. Delores fired her shotgun at four gang members approaching from the south, three men and one woman. They were all decked out in blue, the traditional Southside colors, shared by both the Matones who wore blue and gray while the Truchas wore blue and white.

Little Spitz helped her and began firing his own cuete at the neighborhood thugs. Delores hit one of them, a man in a blue plaid flannel shirt and gray khakis, hitting him in the right leg blowing his knee cap out. He collapsed wounded in the street so the female thug grabbed him and dragged him trying to pull him to safety but also firing her .380 wildly at the Vagos. She was a petite women in a blue halter top, black stockings and leather thigh high boots and a short skirt. She had black lipstick on as some Chola women tended to and she had a blue bandanna tied around her head. Little Spitz focused his fire on her and took her down two to the chest and to the head. She went down like a potato sack and he finished the other vato who Delores had wounded. The other two gang members had taken cover behind a parked orange Bobcat. One had ducked behind it, and the other on the side of it.

The banger with the Virgin Mary tat fired at some Truchas who had emerged from a house on the corner. He hit one of them, dropping him to the ground with six shots but the other, though wounded, stayed on his feet. The Trucha fired at him and hit him once in the stomach and once in the left arm. and then once more in the armpit. "Motherfucker! Fucking bruja!" Bruja was an insult for the Mara Truchas as was calling them Mara Putas. This was extremely offensive to gang members that repped MT since they prided themselves on their name and their honor as a gang that had been started by refugees who had fleed El Salvador during the civil war. Where they had differed from most gangs was that they were highly trained in firearms and combat tecniques due to the fact that they have been guerilla fighters in their homeland. This was mostly the case in the first generation of Truchas who were the ones that started the gang. They had existed as early as 87' in L.S. when the Orange Grove Families and Ballas had been offing each other and so had the Aztecas and Vagos. They had existed but at the time they were just an unorganized band of misfits who stuck together and looked out for each other without earning a name for themselves officially.

Their name in English literally meant Gang of Lookouts. Likewise, the insult they used for Vagos, was Bar Ho's. The Vago fired rapidly even as he held his stomach wound after being shot. "Blue rags aint shit! You'll never make me a punk ass cojone or a Puta, maricon! We aint down with you!" After taking four more rounds to the solar plexus the thug dropped to the ground and the Vago moved past him and emptied the remaining magazine into the guy he had wounded that was trying to get up. Delores followed Pablo who was leaving a trail of bodies with the MP5. She spotted two dead Matones on the ground with several rounds in their head. They were dressed in non gang colors too but according to their they were from El Corona Varrio. Pablo had two gang members pinned down in a house which he was spraying up with bullets, seeming careless about whether he hit others as long as he hit the two rivals he was gunning for. She heard one cry out indicating he had hit one and there was a scream following it.

"Pinche Vago faggots! You got juevos showing your ugly faces around here, bitch! This aint your turf! That was my homie you just killed you fucking pee wee dip shit! Go back to Doberman Park, cabron! Oh wait that's right, we took your original hood out from under you! You Faketeen putos aint shit!"

Pablo fired inside the window taking cover around the side of it as the gang member was still firing his own Walther P99 out of the window. "Fuck you and your dead homies, pinche chavala! MK and TK all fucking day, boboso!" He sprayed the MP5 around the side of the window, spraying all through the room and he heard the guy cry out in pain. He had got him in the left elbow as well as the right side of the chest and one round had actually shot through right where his nipple was. Pablo leaned in and fired aiming directly at the guy as he slumped to the ground and sent seven rounds into his back. He proceeded to reload but as he did, Delores grabbed his arm. "Idiota! Make sure there aren't innocent people in the house before you spray and pray!"

Pablo scowled and shoved her arm off. "Mind your business! I'm tired of you acting like you own me! You aint mom! You stay out of my ways and i'll stay out of yours, comprende?" He hopped the fence with ease and made his way into the next yard. He ran across the drive way and checked to make sure there wasn't any Truchas in that house. He went back out into the street but crept low as he moved through the hood. Spooky raked his Mac-11 at two guys who were firing pistols at him from around the corner. He hit them both with ease, dropping the first man, a thin Central American man with a short crew cut, a white tank top and black shorts, with rounds to the stomach, liver and kidney, and the second, a guy with many tattoos and no shirt but had his face covered in blue rags. He hit that man in the face getting him under the left eye. The guy went down, his head smacking against the curb as he tumbled over.

They got to the drive way where the truck was finally. Delores had fired off the last of her shells and had to reload so she did so in cover behind the fence in a front yard. Just then, an older man, a Guatemalan, pointed his handgun at her. He was too old to be a banger. _What gives? _She wondered but she knew he had a bead on her and she wouldn't be able to even pump the shotty again let alone get a shot off before he would put two in her brain. He snarled, " ¡Estoy harto de usted bromea siempre romper en mi casa de mierda! ¡Yo sólo quise jubilarse en la paz pero usted se apandilla salchichas mantienen venir y tratar de romper en! Su generación es perversa, la señorita yo he tenido suficiente. ¡Bájese de mi propiedad!" **(I'm sick of you kids always breaking into my fucking house! I just wanted to retire in peace but you gang bangers keep coming and trying to break in! Your generation is perverse, young lady i have had enough. Get off my property!)**

Delores was at his mercy. He was in his seventies but she didn't doubt for a moment that she could shoot. Mami had always told her, "Don't ever underestimate anybody mija. That will be the death of you."

Delores tried to calm him down. "No es lo que usted piensa, el señor. Yo no trato de robar de usted. Acabo de cobertura de buscar de las balas. Hacemos lo que podemos fuera aquí sobrevivir. ¡Me bajaré de su grama sólo por favor no me dispara!" **(It is not what you think, mister. I am not trying to steal from you. I was just seeking cover from the bullets. We do what we can out here to survive. I will get off your lawn just please do not shoot me!)**

He kept it aimed at her. "¿Piensa que soy un tonto? ¡Sé lo que pasa y por qué usted lo hace! Sé cómo está en esta ciudad jóvenes niños que disparan el uno al otro en vez de envejeciéndose. ¿Cómo ha ayudado usted su comunidad? Lucha sobre calles todavía cuando la policía viene, aunque tengan automático rinde a ellos. ¿Si es tan duro por qué no se defiende? Mataría alguien porque viven en un área diferente. Mí, yo le mato para defender mi propia vida y en casa. " (**You think I am a fool? I know what goes on and why you are doing it! I know how it is in this city young kids shooting one another instead of growing old. How have you helped your community? You are fighting over streets yet when the police come, even though you all have automatics you surrender to them. If you are so tough why not fight back? You would kill somebody because they live in a different area. Me, I kill you to defend my own life and home. )**

Just then, Pablo came back and aimed his weapon at the Elder man. "Get the fucking gun off my sister, homes! I mean it, cabron! I won't hesitate to smoke your ass if you don't. You're already old so its not like you weren't living on borrowed time as it is. Drop the gun or I'll be the one to send you off into the sun, ¡Reloj viejo!"

The old man, in fear dropped the weapon upon seeing the MP5 pointed at him on top of Delores's shotgun, though she did not aim it at him, he was smart enough to know he would not survive. Delores looked at her brother and said, "Pablito, I got this, homes. Just do whatever you gotta do. I can handle this guy."

Normally, her stubborn brother would have disobeyed her. However, this time he did not but a look of concern did flash in his brown eyes as he walked out of the yard, still looking back at her. The old man made no move against her. He looked at her in fear and said, "¡Si usted me mata que quemará en el inferno!" **(If you kill me you will burn in hell!)**

Delores smiled sadly and said, "Voy allí de todos modos, el señor pero son de no aquí dolerle. Dejaré su propiedad como ha preguntado. ¡Vaya sólo adentro! Conseguirá aún más feo fuera aquí." **(I am going there anyway, mister but I am not here to hurt you. I will leave your property as you have asked. Just go inside! It is going to get even more ugly out here.)**

She stood up and handed the man his pistol and then as a sign of trust turned her back to him. He walked back into the house and shut the door. She came under fire as she exited the yard, however, catching seven rounds in the abdomen. The first five did not cause her to fall but she blinked and stumbled back. She took another two rounds, one hitting her in the leg, grazing her. It was as she was getting up that the next round caught her, a shot from a female Trucha with dark brown eyes, caramel skin, and curly hair in blue silk blouse, white pants, and white high heels. She pumped and fired, hitting the woman in the side and in the right side of her right leg. The gang member screamed in agony as she did and Delores fired again, shooting the pit of her leg out from under her as she staggered wounded. She dropped her gun and it bounced underneath a red Oceanic where it was beyond her reach. She writhed in agony and normally Delores would have just put the poor dumb bitch out of her misery but she didn't want to waste ammo.

The female thug who had been dragging the wounded banger Delores had shot was back and she fired a shot that almost got Delores and it whizzed past her temple. She fired three shots at her and hit her in the chest. Delores grunted from the impact as it hit her but she fired concentrating on her and she let off a shot which leveled the woman's face. The shotgun blast literally blew her face apart sending chunks of bloody bone and brain fragments flying all over the street as well as all over the woman herself as she fell in a heap on the hot pavement. She carried on, following Piernas who was emptying his SMG at some Ese's who were firing from across the street. He hit only one as the other two got into cover behind a fence near the railroad tracks. "You better run, fucking panochas! I'm the hardest muchacho in Los Santos!"

One guy came out, this one dressed in a silver and white plaid jacket and black jeans. He had an AK-47 on him which he was loading as he came out of the apartments across the track. He fired and hit the cholo dressed in the baseball jersey, the one with the Virgin Mary tattoo. The rounds hit the man in the side as he tried to retreat to cover. Four got him near the right rib. Two more hit him in the abdomen and one round hit him in the back as he went down. The rival Southsider finished him off with a burst of rounds to the face and the rounds caused a sickening explosion of blood, bone fragments and everything in between to be unleashed from his skull as the rounds damaged the inside of his brain as they expanded inside of him. The banger with the Madd Dogg t fired at him while retreating to cover, firing his Handgun like a madman. He was hit by the rounds with some slugs in the side, and the abdomen. Another round hit him in the left wrist as he went down. He fell over in the street, critically wounded. He was writing in pain. Spooky got to the fallen thug's side and protected him with covering fire but did so blondly around the side of the Hermes they were behind.

"Fucking Vago pussies! Matones runs you levas! You pay taxes to us, puto! Your varrio aint shit! That's why the Truchas took your hood, Ese! You aint shit but a bunch of mayateros anyway! Trying to be something you aint! Yeah, i'm talking to you, Spitz! Fucking studio banging joto," Little Spitz blindly fired from around the side of the bullet ridden Landstalker in anger and one shot did graze the Matonbe in the left forearm but all the other shots missed. Spitz tried to aim better but the South Sider unloaded the rounds from his AK at the vehicle keeping him pinned down. If he had not gone back to cover he would have surely been took the chance then and there. She fired her shotgun twice. The first shot didn't hit him because of the range but as she got closer she did and the majority of the shotgun pellets hit him on the right side of his waist and both of his legs. He staggered from his injury and fell over in the street. She got in closer and fired again. The blast hit him in the stomach opening a huge hole in him. The blast was so deep that it was enough for her to smell the odor of his insides due to the blast.

He died coughing up blood all over himself and died then and there with his bloody mouth ajar as though he were in shock. She checked the tattoo to see which gang he was from. There were several gangs in the Pico-Unity aea, the most powerful being the Mara Truchas as this was their original hood but there was also several other Southside gangs from that area and none of them were on good terms with the Vagos. He was a Hispanic male with a goatee and slicked back black hair and beady black eyes. His skin was as brown as hers was. She looked at his right forearm and it said **Varrio 14. **He was from the 14th street cliqua, another rival of the Vagos and especially Douglass Park. She suspected that soon they could expect retaliation from 14th street in the near future. Though they mostly had gang turf other places, one of the older 14th streret cliquas were from Pico-Unity. They weren't as active as they had once been but they were still around. Delores knew that given their reputation, there would be retaliation once the word got out that Douglass Park had hit them in their own varrio.

The gang member with the red shirt on, was still firing at some Truchas who were attempting to defend their hood. None of them were wearing gang attire but they were representing their varrio. He fired his pistol emptying a clip into two of them. The other two scattered and took cover behind the fence where the other rival was. One of the men he had shot was badly wounded suffering two gunshot wounds in the stomach, one in the chest and two in the lowerback yet he was still trying to limp to get gang member, Chava, reloaded to finish him off. While he was reloading, the gang member had reached into the back of his pants where he kept a machete. He swung it in a last effort to fight back against the Vago.

He cut him in the neck, slashing his juggular. The gangster stepped back, wobbling letting out a choking sound and a death rattle sounded in his throat as the blood sprayed like a fountain from the wound. Piernas and Spooky saw this and cursed at the sight. He touched the deep wound helplessly before slumping to the ground, eyes wide open. The wounded Trucha, whose gray T shirt was stained with blood spat, "Now you're a pez dispenser, pinche chavala. Think that's the first time...I been shot, Ese? Fuck your varr..."

He didn't get to finish his sentence. Maria unloaded on him with her Sub Machine Gun, hitting him with seventeen rounds all of which were centered in or around his chest. The banger fell with the fresh wounds bleeding freely as well as a combination of blood and spit leaking from his mouth. Maria hissed, "Well that makes you swiss cheese, puto! That was the last time you'll be shot."

Delores took two rounds in the vest from a gang member attempting to get the truck out of there. She fired her shotgun as he backed out of the drive way. She shattered the window in the back of it and the majority of the blast went through the back of it and through the front seat of the passenger seat. If there had been a passenger in there, they surely would have been screwed. She fired again. The truck drove straight at her and she ran out of the way jumping to the ground as it went by.

She stood up with her Handgun drawn and aimed, both hands on the gun, and shut one eye as she aimed down the barrel at the fleeing truck. She let off six shots through the window and hit the driver. He swerved trying to get awayy but ultimately crashed the car into another car. The driver behind the wheel of the gold Merit he had crashed into was out cold or dead.

Either way, there was no time to find out. The guy's head was against the steering wheel causing more of a racket on top of all the shooting. It was a surprise the cops were not there but then, often times when people called the cops in the hood they would take at least an hour to get there. She ran up to the front seat and pointed the hot barrel to the nose of the gang member. She looked at the tattoo of the guy. He also had a 14th street tattoo. He was a short wiry Hispanic male with a flat top and he wore a blue flannel plaid shirt jacket. She growled, "Don't move, fucker. You wait right here."

She lifted up the tarp in the back of the truck. _You've got to be kidding me. _She thought as she saw there was nothing in the back. Just a tool box and a shovel. She walked back to the driver seat and kept her pistol at eye level. "Where's the yayo? Don't lie to me either, cabron, I am not in the mood!"_  
_

The man winced in agony from the rounds he had taken in the back and in shoulder blade. He even had an exit wound on the right side of his chest that had came out through his shoulder after the round had hit him in the back. "What...do you think we're stupid or what? You really think we'd have the blow just waiting out there...like a brand new Cheetah? Chale...that shit is gone. We figured either you...or the Colombians would come looking. We actually had it stashed in a different vehicle and when the shooting jumped off, they used the truck to throw you muchachas off. Seeing as you shot me, I'd say...it worked."

She growled and demanded, "Why would you move the yayo for the Truchas? What's in it for you? You know a young boy got shot because of it? That was Colombian Cartel product and they fucked them over. The Truchas aren't somebody you should deal with. They're disloyal as hell and they will kill you when they're through with you. You know they cut out one of their homegirls up back east? She was pregnant too and they killed her."

The banger laughed and coughed up blood but even as he did, his red teeth grinned. "You...you don't know what you're talking about! That little bitch got killed because she wanted out of the cliqua. That aint the worst part of it. It would be one thing if she had jumped ship and left but instead she cut a deal with the chotas and snitched on her own homeboys. Even her boyfriend. You see a pregnant woman, I see a rata...even rats have babies. So she wasn't supposed to pay the price just cause she had a baby? Anyway that has nothing...to do with what we're talking about."

He paused briefly to close his eyes in pain and then continued. "We had some of our homeboys go after that coka too. Not just the Truchas. A lot of South Side cliquas make feria with them. Pretty much all of them do. We may fight on the streets...but when we get in, La Onda makes that street beef stop. Fact is, the Truchas have a lot of numbers and a lot of muscle. All us South Siders respect how far they go for their varrio. Fact is though, they wear the blue rag. You putos don't...they even tag up 13 when they put a Mara Trucha hit up on the wall. You putos still got that 18 as your hood number.

You think that you can be independent out here? This aint that kind of city. Even your homies pay taxes to the Mexican Mafia. They run your varrios. You're only as independent as they say you are. They favor us though. Cause we aint no pinche mayateros. You levas wanna be that way you should be rolling with North Siders. Up in the gay area. As for the Colombians, they got a problem, they better take it up with La Onda. They call the shots, not them. This aint Liberty City or Vice City."

Delores could hear sirens. She knew they would be there within five minutes. They would need to get out of there soon if they didn't want to die or end up in jail. She hit the guy with her pistol and demanded, "Where's our blow? Where did you really have it and where are you keeping it?"

Pablo approached the bullet ridden truck and pointed his MP5 at the driver and snarled, "Is this the puto that shot Juni? This is the same truck! Where's the blow, mothefucker? Which one of you Puta chavalas killed Junior? Don't make like you don't know who I'm talking about?"

The gang banger laughed. "You...think i'm a Trucha...you should tell this fuckin pee wee...I'm from 14th street cliqua. Soy Mexicano. Not El Salvadoran. But the MT's are good earners and they're a lot more worthy to be 13ers than you are," She said, directing the comment at Delores but referring to Pablo as a peewee. The guy continued, "I don't know who killed your friend...and I sure as shit aint telling you who has our shit! I'd die for mi varrio. Who are you to me?"

Pablo got closer with the MP5. "We're death herself if you don't start talking! Where is the coka?! You took something that didn't belong to you and if your homies don't get blasted by all of us, then it'll be the Colombians knocking at your door. Delores, he's lying so if you don't finish him, I will!"

Delores decided to show mercy even though it was against the code of any gang members. The no mercy code was thought by non gang members to be ruthless but really in a way, even to doubters like Delores, who had often thought of putting things behind her, it did make sense. It made sense because if you spared somebody on the street that was a rival, they could come back with their homies and catch you slipping. It seemed like a fool proof way to be if you were banging on the streets but the down side was that if you killed somebody innocent who was not the one you wanted but was banging or if you just shot somebody wearing the wrong colors, that too could come back to haunt you as it was often the basis for rival hoods seeking revenge in drive-by's.

Still, she wanted to have somewhat of a change even if it meant she would be thought a leva, AKA a coward. Delores stopped him. "No. Listen, if you want to live, I can call you an ambulance if you just tell me where it is. I can call you an ambulance on my way out of your varrio but you have to tell me first."

The gang member shook his head. "I don't know anything! That's the truth! Your word don't mean nada and I would rather die than be at the mercy of a Bar Ho so go ahead and leave me! I'll take my chances waiting. If the chotas are coming so will the medics."

Pablo tried to get Delores to move out of his line of fire. "He's talking shit let's snuff him and get out of here!" The gang member seemed somewhat afraid of Pablo. "I'm telling you the truth, Ese! I really don't fucking know! One of my other homies got out of here before you vatos even found this truck! I was meant to be the decoy but...so much for that...come on...you gotta kill me, then kill me! That doesn't change the fact that I don't know! I wasn't there! We were just in it for the feria!"

Delores was growing impatient. "Why? Why attack us? Only one guy got away and if that wasn't you who killed Juni, then you weren't there at all because you'd be among the dead if you were. Why did your homies get in with the Truchas for some coke only to have most of you die trying to get it? Did you think the Colombians wouldn't fight for it? Did you think we wouldn't?" He sputtered and coughed up blood on the steering wheel and then croaked, "What...why did we attack you guys at the docks? Why do anything?We wanted to make some cash. That's all. The American dream! We wanted to get paid...simple as that. That is why we are here. Your homeboy...I had nothing against him but he got in the way. Shit happens...this is business...nothing personal."

Delores could see in Pablo's angered expression he wanted to unload the H&K into the man but she insisted on him sparing him. "Let's just let him go. He can't help us and he might not even walk again after this. I aint as much of a believer as mami was but maybe she was right. Let's do what she would want and leave it up to God if he lives or dies. Please, hermano...let's go!"

Pablo lowered the weapon and she pulled him off to get back to the car. The man tried to walk as he staggered out of the truck. his clothes stained with blood. He fell to the ground but held himself up by the door. With his other hand, he reached under the seat and grabbed a .25 and aimed it at the two siblings. He began squeezing it off wildly. One round hit Pablo on the side, another in the arm but from where Delores was she thought he had been hit in the chest.

He cried out and fell to the pavement Delores felt guilt as she too fell, two rounds hitting her in the back. _He wanted to kill him and I stopped him, I thought he was being heartless and i thought I was doing the right thing. _She realized in horror. As the man emptied the clip, most of the shots missed. She got up and snatched up her fallen brothers MP5. She fired and let off ten rounds at the man nailing him in the chest. She brought the rounds to his face and blew the tip of his nose off causing blood to squirt all over himself and the door handle of the truck.

She screamed, "You couldn't just let us go, could you? FUCKING IDIOTA!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. She ran back to Pablo and turned him over as he was laying face down. He groaned in pain. He was wounded but he would live. Her heart was beating hard and fast. She had thought for a moment there that her little brother had been killed. She helped him to his feet and put her arm around him.

She got him back to the car, the Voodoo. Piernas and Spooky were exchanging gunfire with some rivals who were firing at them in the street from inside their own house. Spooky took ten rounds in the back. Delores felt her heart sink as he fell down on his side. A gang member, the one who had taken cover behind the fence near the railroad had fired and was still firing over his shoulder as he ran even as Maria and Gabriel fired after him.

He got away but as he emptied his last rounds back at them he shouted, "You guys are fucked! You think this is bad? Just wait, soon everybody in the varrio is gonna come down on you! Wrong neighborhood to mess with!" Delores rushed to Spooky's side. His eyes were closed and his mouth was open. "Oh god..."

Just then he sat up and laughed. "Gotcha! It did kinda hurt though. Damn, Delly you should see the look on your face just now, Esa!"

Delores punched him in the arm and snarled, "That isn't funny, Spooky! I thought you were being for real! You don't joke about shit like that!"

He stood up and lifted his shirt up at the back to reveal he had a vest on just as she did. "Safety precautions, que no? Lo Sioento, Del. I was just self entertaining. I'm just lucky they aimed for my back and not my head. Anyway, no harm no foul, I'm still here but we gotta get out of here the chotas are coming. In fact I hear them right now!"

Delores hugged him and Pablo slapped Spooky some dap and a quick man hug. "Go get those wounds taken care of, carnalito. Later you'll have some battle scars to tell the hynas about, right? Stay safe, homie," He advised him. "You should show your sister some respect too. I didn't have nobody growing up to tell me I was fucking up. You do. Entiendes?"

Pablo nodded. Spooky shouted for Maria to follow him back to his own car. He told her, "Mira, Maria, you can't tell Peaches what happened just now, comprende? She doesn't need to know. I'm gonna have to keep my shirt on all night so that I won't have to explain the ten marks on my back. Even if they aint actual bullet wounds, she does know what a mark from a shot with a vest on look like too so be cool when you two have your girls night out, comprende?"

She nodded and Piernas let out a remark, "Yeah well Peaches will probably have some white stains on her back she'll have to explain to you, homes!"

Spooky snapped as he got in his car and Piernas, Delore and Pablo got in the Voodoo, "Hey watch your mouth asshole! I know about what happened when she got put onto the hood but if you ever talk about my woman again, I'm gonna beat you senseless. Serio, Gabriel. Watch your mouth!"

Piernas laughed as he started up his own car. "Chill out, homes! Aint that big a deal it was just a joke, Ese! Get a sense of humor!" The cars headed separate ways as they sped out of the area.

As they sped off, Delores tried to comfort her brother. "We're gonna get you some help, Pablo. Just hang on! Step on it, Gabe! Get us to that hospital near Douglass Park!"

He shook his head. "I can't this time. The chotas are gonna be all over there cause they probably know today is a busy day in the barrio. We need to head over to Smiley's pad. He's got some medical tools in the house that will do the trick. Pablo, this is gonna hurt carnal but I don't want you getting busted and neither does your sister. It will hurt like a bitch I aint gonna lie but you gotta get through it bro. You're an Aztec warrior. It'll take more than a couple rounds from one of those bitches to kill you right?"

They bailed back to the varrio. Delores pulled the Voodoo into an alley and waited there a few minutes as black and white cars with flashing lights sped past to the scene of the shooting. "Are you happy, pendejo? I fucking told you you were biting off more than you could chew getting mixed up in the life and what happened? Like an idiot you get yourself shot. We're gonna take you to the hospital but are you satisfied? You didn't even get the man you wanted! Or the coka! They moved it. We just killed Raza again over colors and drugs. These are our own people and we just a bunch of them under."

Piernas laughed at that. "Jajajaja chill out, mija it aint that serio. I've caught some slugs in my life and I'm still alive! Besides they aint our people homie don't make me 're just some stoners on the corner. They aint about shit. We're about protecting our varrio and our familia."

Delores snarled, "You aren't helping! First off they are our people! We're still South Siders as much as we may not like it! As much as you hate other people you even think like a South Sider. You know what it boils down to once you get behind bars. They were defending their varrio too. I can't help but think most of the guys had nothing to do with jacking the yayo or killing Juni. Pablo, I know you'd rather listen to Piernas than your own hermana so we'll do it your way but I'm asking you now while its just a wound, are you happy? I may not get a chance to ask you again next time you might die. Are you satisfied? We just went through there and shot up other Brown people. Only to find the actual people who killed your homie aint there!"

Pablo groaned, "Can't you cut me a break? I'm shot i'm gonna be laid up in the hospital just like you were for your hand. Cut me some slack. Anyway, what you said is bullshit. They maybe Raza, they maybe Chicanos but they killed my homeboy. Juni wasn't a Vago. We hadn't even all agreed to put him into the cliqua yet and he still got killed. I don't care what color somebody is. White, black, Chicano, I don't give a fuck I'll twist anybody's scalp back back if they shoot one of my comprades. Youre right, i didn't do what I was supposed to I shouldn't have taken him along but what can i do now? It's too late!"

She scoffed. "Give you a break? Chale! This is tough love, carnalito. You haven't gotten some of that since mami died. What if papa hadn't been deported? What would he think? You think he would be happy with what you do, with what we do? Am I the only one that sees this isn't gonna end well?"

Pablo screamed, "I don't live in the land of 'What if' I live in reality, pendeja! Nuestro padre aint here so it doesn't fucking matter what he would want. He could have gotten back across la frontera very easily if he really wanted to."

Delores got them to a Pay N Spray as fast as she could taking back streets trying to avoid contact with the police. As she pulled in she said, "You still don't get it, Pablito but you're gonna learn. I fucked up my life. You think I'm a hypocrite? I have a record, man I can't really do anything else at this point. I even got an education, I attended community college but that doesn't mean shit, I still got a record. I got a year for assaulting a pig. Even if i am educated you think anybody is gonna hire some ex Chola off the streets with a felony on her record? Hell no!"

The car was resprayed and a lot of the heat had died down anyway as they pulled out. The Voodoo was now bright green. "Eh, not so sure about the color on this thing, homie but I think I can live with it for now. If I need to, I'll fix it later. Gracias for not blowing it up, Delores. I've seen how you used to go through cars like I go through socks. Probably still do!"

She drove back to the varrio and pulled up to where Gabriel stayed at. It was a studio apartment that was seedy on the outside and many of the walls were littered with Vagos gang hit ups but a few Trucha tags were up there as well. Douglass Park, formely known as Glen Park, had been a war zone for over twenty years between the two gangs as both shared the same varrio which made it a deadly place at night. Even with gentrification and some wealthier white residents attempting to move in, the shit went down. Sometimes this meant there was a lot more snitching in the hood, sometimes this meant they got a taste of what life was like for a Chicana, and sometimes they got scared off and decided it wasn't worth moving into a crime neighborhood if there was going to be gun fights in the street. _What do they expect though?_

When they did snitch on the neighborhood bangers, those that stayed often were subject to muggings. Delores had remembered hearing about how in the earlier days of the neighborhood, back in 87', the Vagos had fought been the first gang to fight the Truchas since the ones in their neighborhood at the time had just seemed like a bunch of El Salvadoran thugs with no organization. They had nearly wiped out all the independant loosely organized cliquas that refused to represent the Vagos from the varrio. Many of the newly arrived Central American immigrants did end up joining their gang but the ones that didn't, the ones that had survived the shakedown on small time hustlers from the Vagos, retreated to Pico-Unity where their own countrymen were getting more organized into their own cliqua and thus the Truchas was finally formed in the late 80's.

By the early 90's many of the Vago gang members from Glen Park had been booked when the cops had started cracking down on their neighborhood and since the hood was in close proximity to the downtown area, the Ballas took over and until 92' the varrio was a stronghold for them. Piernas got out of the car and told them, "Go to Smiley's without me! I got some pain killers in mi casa that can help Pablo once we get those bullets out of him."

He ran inside and Delores pulled the car to Smiley's house. She tried to help him out of the car. Pablo cursed at her in Spanish insisting he could take care of himself. She ignored it and said, "Look, bro, no matter how much you fuck up I still always got your back and I'm not gonna leave you, entiendes? I just want you to do something with your life. You like to read and you like playing baseball. That was what you and Juni used to do in the park, enit? Sometimes just the two of you when you couldn't find anybody for a team. You don't got a record. You want one?"

He opened the screen door and two female gang bangers held it open one of them grabbing him to lead him to the couch. "Le han disparado, Esa. Cómo Smiley y su equipo médico," Delores told them. **(He's been shot, Esa. Get Smiley and his medical kit.)**

_This Town Aint Big Enough..._

Delores sat in a Fish Hook sea food place. It was a place that had started in the North West and after many years had finally made it down to San Andreas. She was working on fish, chicken strips and french fries, known to people from New England as chips. With it, she had an E Cola. She got a text message from Smiley. He had requested her to meet up at a spot in Chinatown. Some of the homies would be there. She texted him back that she would in a hour and a half. She rolled her eyes in her head. So much for getting some R&R. She looked up at the TV screen. There was news footage about how BJ Smith was back in prison for stealing some of his own memorabilia in his 1995 murder case. She shook her head in disgust. Shit like this with bogus Vinewood celebrities always got coverage but there was no coverage on the shooting in Pico-Unity.

The sea food joint was in the middle of the hood. The Tiny Winos cliqua, another Vago varrio in 106th street. Since it was Idlewood, the majority of the people working in the place was either Black or Latin. In her mind she corrected herself. _Black and Brown, or Chicana, but not fucking Latina. I am tired of being called that. Just because we speak Espanol does not mean we are Spanish. Do we look like we're from Europe? We're Natives Indigenous to this land. We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us. Chicana is a title of a proud Indigenous Mexican woman. Hispanic or Latin, is saying I'm a cultural slave to Southern Europe. To the Conquistadors._

She exhaled trying to bottle the anger she felt at that, this false category they gave her and her compardres. She also hated that the liberal media, with much emphasis on liberal, was pretty much no better than those assholes on Weazel News. At least so far nobody had been. They just showed the problems rich folks in Vinewood had, these real estate salesmen, yuppie punks, over advantaged anglos.

What was worse is that whenever they did show gang violence they always blamed it on the individuals and not the environment Ok, so maybe in some ways she was a liberal but she doubted if she were to have run for president even without a record, she would have gotten a vote. For one thing, she was too up front and straight forward. Too honest. Not good for a president.

A year before, the USA had been happy to kiss that spoiled rich boy who acted like a redneck, Joe Lawton Jr. goodbye as his term had ended and the first black president had been elected. Barry Owosu. Delores at first had thought she would have voted for him if she could have. That was how she felt when she saw him and it beat the hell out of the other guys. He was educated and charismatic and the first president who wasn't a white guy but at the same time, he still had soldiers in Afghanistan when he said he would pull out.

Maybe one major barrier had been broken. America was ready for a black president. They had proven so in November 2008. Yet she knew in her heart America would not tolerate a Native American president, be they from the United States or from Mexico. Sure, Delores had the same issue as he did. Her mother was not a legal resident of the United States but the way she felt about it, was this was their own land anyway so why should they need to have papers? There had once been time when they had traveled all over their own continent freely. Even to South America.

Her father had been born in Puerto Rico so he was automatically an American even by the US government's standards.

So while America was ready for a black president, they still feared Brown people. Saw them as people crossing the border and trying to turn the country into a third world country. What people failed to see was that Mexico had not been third world neither had any of Central, North or South America prior to European invasion. Who was the true immigrants? She shook the thought from her head.

It would never be so for her or for anybody from the barrio. If somebody ever did manage to break the barrier it would have to be somebody who had escaped the ghetto and had assimilated into the anglo world. Somebody with an Ivy league education.

She shook that thought from her mind too. She walked down the street after finishing her meal. She still had her soda so she finished off the soda and then tossed the blue and white cup in a trashcan. She was going to wait for a ride. If she couldn't find one she would take a cab. As usual, it was a sunny day. She wore a casual black sweater over her blouse. She had a hoody on. She had gray jeans and some pink sneakers. Her hair she had tied back in a single braid. She stopped on a corner and called Smiley. "Hola? Que tal, Delores?"

She asked him, "Listen, is there any way I can get a ride to where I need to meet you guys? I dumped the last car I had. I can get a cab if I need to but I want to save mi feria if I can. You got anybody that can swing by the Wood and give me a lift?" Smiley shouted something to somebody in his house in Espanol. He got back on the phone. "Pardon, Esa. I'll see if I can get you a ride. I don't know who and you may just need to get a taxi but I'll make a few calls and see if I can get you a ride. Depends what everybody is up to. Let me hit you back in ten minutes."

She hung up. She walked down to She wished she had her cuete on her but she had hit it until she could get another one. Her cell phone buzzed indicating she had a text message. She checked it. She didn't recognize the number but since it was a text and not a call she saw no harm in checking it. **Hey, it's Little Spitz, Piernas gave me your number. I got a studio in downtown L.S. I'm just cutting these rhymes hard you should come check me out, you and all the homegirls, I need some feedback on my music.**

Delores thought it over. Though she didn't know him that well he seemed all right. She had always gotten along with any of the 18th street cliquas and that included the cliqua he was from. She texted him back that she would. After all, why not go and support a Chicano artist from the same gang? She'd heard around the barrio he could rap but had not heard it herself.

She had noticed two African American girls standing about twenty feet away from her near a house. A 64' Savannah pulled up, and it was firme, a gold top down lo lo. There were three other girls, also black, all in the car. The two who had been standing on the corner approached the car. Delores finished her text. She overheard one of the girls in the car say, "Yeah, go fuck with her. We gonna be right here."

Delores rolled her eyes. _Serio? These bitches don't have anything better to do than start some shit for no reason? _The song Walk It Out by Unk was playing in the car. God she hated that song! The two outside of the car came up to her. One was dark skinned and had her hair in dreads tied back in a ponytail. She wore a maroon sweater and no makeup. The other wore a gray hooded sweater. Though they were not wearing colors, Delores had them pegged for Rollers. "You lost homegirl? Where you from, cuz? What you doing in our neighborhood?"

Delores didn't need a fight right now. She said, "Yo soy Mexicana. What business is it of yours?" The truth was she was half Puerto Rican and half Mexican but that was another story. She had never been to Puerto Rico but she had lived on the other side of la frontera for the first twelve years of her life. Pablo was probably too young to remember it at all. Then again maybe not. He had been nine when they left. Their parents had both known English well enough so that they taught them both before they went back to the states. Still she did not know how much of Mexico he remembered.

He wasn't exactly the type that talked to his older sister. At least not anymore. The one girl in the gray sweater said, "Cause you're in our turf, if you aint from Normandy get to stepping! This aint East Los! This is 60's hood. " That was a stereotype on their part. San Andreas had all been free Native American land at one point. Mojave, Paiute, Aztec, all sorts of tribes lived there. Then when the Spanish came and the revolution in Mexico happened, Mexico existed and San Andreas had belonged to Mexico before it belonged to the United States.

When it had been turned into a US state the gold miners had gone to San Fierro and the civil war had come out west since even the white men from back East had wanted to bring their war out west, it had minor firefights there too. Still by the 1900's people had come to associate L.S. Chicanos and Chicanas with East Los Santos, the place they had to live due to segregation laws. Mexicans could not live in the more well of white areas.

Though San Andreas had always been the land of La Raza, the Anglo population often tended to think that Mexicans had not been from here until the Mexican civil war of 1910 that sent many of the refugees flooding into L.S. looking for labor. It was funny to her. America loved them when they needed them and cast them aside when they didn't.

She was not from East Los Santos. She had been there many times but there were also a lot of Matone cliquas she had beef with so even if she wanted to a lot of times it was a risk. Delores spotted out of the corner of her eye, four home girls walking up. She felt delight to see one of them was Peaches. Peaches had her hair tied in two braids, Indian style. She wore a black tank top and some bad ass leather pants. She also had some cool new clubbing boots on. The three other homegirls were Maria who she had rolled with the other day and two cholas from the Tiny Winos cliqua.

One of them was a woman named Dreamer who was originally from Idlewood and had later moved to their varrio. Though each cliqua was independent but under the same gang banner, she was cool to kick it in their varrio as with any Vagos 18 Ese's. She had originally moved to Douglass Park when she had been in a relationship with Smiley. They had broke up a while ago but their varrio in the middle of Los Santos was still her home away from home. Her and Smiley seemed to be an on-and-off couple. If she wanted to be crude she would call them fuck buddies but she did not since she liked both Smiley and Dreamer.

Dreamer was dressed like your typical male Chicano banger as many of the cholas of the 90's had. She wore a black and white checkered plaid button up over a brown shirt and some baggy blue jeans.

Dreamer had long dark hair soulful brown eyes and normally a warm and friendly smile but now her dark eyes were scowling like a warrior ready for battle. Which Delores figured was likely to happen. The fourth was a chola she was not familiar with but she was from Idlewood. She had dark hair as well down to her shoulder. Her top was violet under her white zip up jacket. "What the fuck are these bitches tripping over?" Demanded Dreamer as she walked up.

The three females in the car got out as well and one of them, a girl with curly hair that looked like a feminine Afro. She wore a blue jacket over a long white T shirt and had hoop earrings. "Oh shit, she brought the whole familia?" She remarked as they got out and walked up to confront them. The two homegirls she had with her one had dark skin and wore a black sweater with her hood up.

The third girl from the car was light skinned or as they would call it, high yellow and she was least two shades lighter than Delores and all the Vagas that were there. She wore too much makeup and had a weave. She had a black do-rag and she wore black lipstick and too much eyeliner. She also wore a gray jersey over a white T shirt.

The girl in maroon in front of Delores of the first two Rollers looked at Peaches and then back at Delores. "You lil Pocahontas looking bitch!" Delores felt tempted to swing on her then and there for those words but she kept calm. The maroon sweater turned to look at her approaching homegirls and said , "These bitches over here disrespecting us."

The one in the Afro just said, "Wow!"

Peaches snarled, "Do you fucking putas know who we are? We're Vagas. The Rollers are supposed to be squashing it with us. We helped your compadres from Nutty Hood."

The girl in the gray sweater laughed. "Nutty? We don't care about them niggas on that side of town! Just cause we Rollers don't mean we cool! You should have thought about all that before you trespass in our hood, bitch!"

Delores growled, "We can go where the fuck we wanna go. What do you wanna do about it? Pinche hood rat..."

The girls all took offense at once from what she said. "Hood rat? Oh hell no! I aint no motherfuckin hood rat, bitch we finna teach your smart ass a lesson."

They all began to remove jewelry and earrings preparing for a fight. "That's a nice shirt, did your mama buy it for you?" Said the girl with the do rag as she removed one hoop earring. Dreamer shouted, "Same place you bought that fucking nappy weave, bitch!"

Delores looked at the girl who had said that and asked, "What did you just say about my mom?" The woman started to repeat herself but Delores swung on her hitting her with a hard right blow to the cheek as she attempted to take the right one off but the punch stopped her from doing so.

It was five on five. Dreamer took on the one with the Afro, Peaches squared up with the girl in maroon, Maria took on the girl in the black sweater while the 106th street Chola took on the girl in gray. The girl swung back at Delores and was swinging fast, hitting her with two to the jaw. Delores caught her third blow and she kicked Delores in the stomach.

Delores grunted as the kick winded her. Peaches had head butted the girl with the maroon and was swinging on her. The girl swung back and attempted to claw at her face and one of her long nails did rake the side of her neck. The fight was going into a straight out rumble. Delores swung at the girl with the do-rag and threw her backwards. As the girl hit the ground, Delores followed with a kick to the ribs and another kick to the back.

The girl cried out in pain. "You shouldn't have fucked with us! You Rollers aint shit! We've been in the game for longer than you levas!" Delores said as she kicked her. The girl with the afro had managed to drop Dreamer to the ground and she came at Delores swinging. She was the tallest of the Rollers. Delores ducked a punch from her but the girl grabbed her by the blouse and rammed into her with her shoulder. "You lil bitch! I aint the one to fuck with! You aint taking over this city on our watch, cuz!"

Delores took one blow to the stomach from her but caught her next blow and twisted her arm around. The girl cried out in pain. Delores took the chance to get behind her and punch her in the back of the head. She followed with a left hook to the side of the face hitting the girl in the right ear. The bitch with the do-rag was back on her feet and both were attempting to attack Delores.

Delores was bombarded by blows to the face but she held her own. She kicked the bitch with the fro in the chest and hit her with a mean right left combination. Dreamer came up behind them and hit the bitch with the Afro and blue jacket once in the side of the face and shoved her aside and then grabbed the girl with the do-rag by the jersey and pulled her off of Delores. She began wailing on the chick's face.

As the chola from 106th street and the Roller were punching and kicking each other, the Roller yelled, "Get out of our neighborhood! We don't want no Mariachi bands in our hood, you fucking wetback! Go back to where you came from! Goddamn anchor babies!"

The TW Vaga took three blows to the nose but tackled the Roller around the waist and slammed her to the ground and sat on her while punching her in the face repeatedly. "How about you go back where you came from, Shaniqua? We came by land, we were always here. You come by water so shut your mouth pinche mayate! I'd rather be a called anchor baby than tar baby! This aint Africa! We run L.S. not you nigger putas!"

Delores could tell from the racial obscenities tossed both ways that the fight was getting even more carried away. Delores kicked the girl she was now squabbing with as she tried to get up. The girl kicked her in the leg but she head butted the girl causing her nose to bleed. Delores hit her in the face with four blows as hard as she could and the girl fell back with blood on her mouth. The girl Peaches was fighting with had grabbed her braids and pulled them hard with one hand while punching her in the face with the other. "Yeah, what now, boo boo? You aint gonna be so pretty next time your man see ya. Shouldn't have fucked with the Rollers. Normandy ave, bitch!"

Peaches cried out more in pain cause of the braids than from her punches. The girl had even stashed some razor blades in her mouth as many female bangers often would just in case a fight with rival girls would jump off in the hood. Delores had even learned how to smuggle razor blades in her mouth herself but she much preferred just straight up using either her hands, a filerjo or a cuete.

She remembered that the first few times she had done that she had cut her tongue and it had bled a while and it had taken several tries before she found the right way to stash it right. It really wasn't worth the trouble anyway. If she should ever wind up in a women's correctional facility, then she would see the need for that but for now her options were more open.

The girl grabbed Peaches's right braid and tried to put the razor to her hair. Her own tongue was bleeding either from the razor blades themselves or because maybe Peaches had punched her and she had bite her tongue. Either way she didn't seem to really care. "Let's see how pretty you are without those braids, homie. Let's see! Think you hard?!" Peaches drove her elbow into her stomach and spun around with a right blow to her nose. She swung wit several blows, one of them cracking the girl's tooth and she saw her gums were bleeding.

Peaches was cut on the forearm as the girl tried to use the blade on her but she smacked them from her grasp. "Let's see how tough you are without a blade, cono!" She grabbed her by the hair and swung her around and began slamming her head up against the fence and then she got her on the ground. She slammed her head down three times on the side walk and cracked her head open as her forehead was now gushing with blood. Peaches stood up and the girl looked up at her beaten and bloodied and Peaches gave her a kick to the face and heard the cracking of the cartilage as she broke her nose.

Blood now gushed from it as her nose was kicked to the side. She may not have been dead but she was sure as hell down and out. The chola whom Delores did not know had some scratches on her face and the girl she was fighting did too. However, the girl grabbed her by the hair and drove her knee into her face four times until the black girl was sprawled out on the pavement bleeding and writhing in agony.

The girl with the do-rag had tried to help the one with the fro double team Delores again. Delores felt blood on her lip and her tongue was bleeding from biting it due to a punch or several punches from each gang hoochie. She drove her elbow into the chest of the one with the jersey and still swung despite her own pain and fatigue, at the one with the sweater. She hit her in the nose, the eye, the jaw, the lips, hoping to knock her the fuck out but this was one tough bitch.

The woman drove her knee into Delores's groin. While she was no man, it still hurt like hell. Dreamer grabbed the girl with the do-rag and the two of them grappled again. Delores caught a kick in the chest that knocked the wind out of her. She gasped as the wind left her chest and fell to her knees but the girl kept attacking. Delores tried to block her blows as much as she can but still took a few blows to the head in the process.

Delores tackled her in a blind rage and rammed her against the fence. The girl bounced off of it and she swung on her drawing more blood from the battle hardened Roller. The girl shoved Delores back and pulled out a knife. "Bitch! You want beef? Come on with it then, nigga! I got what you need!"

She swung at her several times with the knife. Delores felt one slash at her hip and one at her left upper arm near the armpit. Delores drop kicked her in the stomach and kicked the blade from her hand. Delores then hit her with a hard left jab to the belly as hard as she could. She hit the girl with a hard long fist to the head and then hit her with a haymaker knocking her back. Delores hit her with an upper cut and she hit the ground hard. The girl with the do- rag was back and had grabbed the knife. Delores did not waste even a moment.

She grabbed her by the hoop earring she still had and gave it a hard yank. She ripped it out and huge portion of her ear lobe as well. The girl screamed in agony, a blood curdling scream that reminded Delores of animal slaughter houses. She took the knife from her and tossed it aside and began punching her and drop kicked her in the abdomen. Then as the girl went down she continued to hammer her fresh open wound and the girl was pretty much crying because of it.

The other Rollers were down and wounded or just unconscious completely with the exception of the tallest one who was back on her feet. Dreamer wasted no time grabbing a trash can and smacking her in the face just as she grabbed the knife intending to stab Delores. As she went down, blood dripping from her mouth, Dreamer kicked her in the face. "Told you I always got your back, homegirl!"

With that, the 18th street cholas checked the wallets of all the knocked out Rollers. Each had at least a hundred dollars if not more. They would split it between the five of them. One common misconception people seemed to also have about Mexicans was that they never could fight one on one and they assumed this because of the gangs. While that may have been true for some it was not the case with Delores and not the case for most 18th street homies she had.

In fact the stereotype was just as true for blacks as it was for them but the difference was she had seen her own people head up one on one whether it was with their own, a white boy, a black person or a cop. The idea seemed to be to the black gang members was that they assumed they would always win one on one because they were "Taller" and thus Mexicans could never beat them without rat packing. Yet this was not the case it seemed on TV black boxers and MMA fighters were getting their asses handed to them all the time by Brown boxers.

In any case size was not always an indicator of who would win a fight. It often did make the difference but that's only if you couldn't scrap. In Douglass Parque, everybody could scrap. Even the Christians.

She knew why so called Latino boxers almost never lost or went down easy. Because they never gave up. Because they were not Latin but Aztec Indians and they had that warrior blood in their veins which mean they had no quit in them. Delores today and these cholas had just disproved that stereotype and proven that they could win in equal numbers as them as well. The Roller who had tried to stab her had cheated bringing a knife to a fist fight but they had all ended up regretting it. They all would regret fucking with them too.

As they took the money, the girl who the 106th street chola had beaten up, was shouting in both pain and frustration. They could hear sirens somebody had actually called the chotas. They walked back into the drive way where the 64' had pulled up and saw that the car still had keys in it. The girl on the ground was trying to get up limping toward her beaten homegirls. "You Bar Ho's are fucking dead you hear me! This aint over, cuz! Normandy Ave on mine, motherfucker! You hear me, bitches?! It is on! We gonna kick yall asses back across the border!"

As Delores pulled out of the drive-way, she mocked her. "Yeah we can hear, your voice is loud I'm actually wishing I was deaf right now."

Dreamer winked at them and said, "Maybe you go back to being on the front of Mammy syrup bottles instead of fucking with us cause we been at this banging shit longer than you."

As they drove off, Peaches hollered out of the window, "Douglass Parque, pendeja! Fuck your weak ass hood!"

They changed the radio station and drove downtown. Dreamer chuckled as she looked back hoping there would be no cop cars following them. "Those bitches must have no life to just start shit with you for no reason was it that time of the month? Damn if they just would have been cool there would have been no problem!"

As Delores drove she said, "I don't know hermana but we gotta be careful. Peaches yelled out what hood we're from and you know they don't take a defeat in a fight too well. We can expect retaliation soon."

She put the radio station on Radio Los Santos and the song Where You From Ese by Mr. Criminal played. Peaches shrugged. "Fuck em! I don't care! I'm tired of these ghetto ass wannabe divas thinking they can just fuck with who they want to! If they came through Douglass Parque we'll be ready for them and we can finish them off then and there. I dare those bitches to come fuck with us! If they're smart they'll learn a lesson."

Delores shook her head. "We need to be careful. This isn't a question nof if they're gonna hit us back, it'll be when. They will. That's the rules of the game, girl you know that! It doesn't matter if they just got their asses kicked fair and square, they won't be willing to take a beating like that."

_Footprints In The Snow_

They were at a pool hall. Her and Smiley. It was his turn. He lined up his shot and knocked a ball in. He was always good at it. He had taught Delores and she was getting better. She had been good competition before but she wanted to win this time. She had lost all the times before. She moved to the side and lined up. She focused but instead ended up putting one of Smiley's balls in. "Damn it! There must be somebody up there plotting against me. I must not be destined to win against you," She said light hearted with a smile.

Smiley chuckled. "Relax, you'll beat me at it one of these days. It just takes time. You think I became this good overnight? No. I spent many years as a pee wee losing to the veteranos. You want my advice though, primera? Never play for money. You'll lose too much de nero that way. I play for fun."

He asked her, "What's on your mind, Esa? I can tell something is up."

She looked at him and sighed. "Can you keep a secret? Serio, man you can't tell nobody, Smiley. I didn't even tell Pablo this shit."

He raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "Mira, what is it? I'm here for you but you gotta tell me."

She sighed again, looking deeply stressed. "Mi padre...I told Pablo a lie about why he left us. See, he used to bang himself. He was born in Puerto Rico but he grew up most of his life in Carcer City. Rolled with the biggest gang in the Midwest. The Brown Kings. Out in Liberty City they call themselves the Spanish Lords but they're really Brown Kings. Anyway, he joined them when he was a teenager back in the 70's. He did a lot of the same shit we're doing now but back in those days it wasn't as crazy as it was now."

She continued "They had Revolvers back then the way we carry Glocks now. Later he met mom. She was a Brown Queen. They left the gang years later after she had lost her first son to a drive-by. They moved out here to the west coast when they were pregnant with me. It wasn't easy but he got a job and he worked hard. Muy trabajo. Then when mi madre died it's like he went crazy. He snapped. I still don't know entirely went was wrong with him but he shot somebody and ended up having to flee. I still don't know the whole story."

Smiley listened carefully to what the young woman was telling him. He had lost interest in the game of pool. "He ended up going to Mexico. He left a note saying he was really sorry but he would always love me and Pablo. He told me to take care of him. I was eighteen this was right before graduation. I hated him for a long time after that. He was still sending me letters saying how sorry he was and that he missed me and me carnalito but he couldn't come home yet. I didn't answer him at first."

A tear fell from her eye and she quickly brushed it aside. Smiley saw it but said nothing knowing that she wouldn't want him to. Not even to comfort her. "I felt alone though even among all the homies so I started writing back. I tried to keep in touch. He had always told me not to go down the path he did. He had told me bits and pieces of his past but nothing too much.

He hadn't told Pablo anything at all. He was just too young to understand. Or too immature. Maybe both. He made me promise to never join a gang but I was mad at him and he was gone and the homies were here so I did. Plus a homegirl had just been shot in the hood graduation night so I wanted to prove I was a down sister true to the varrio."

Smiley listened and respectfully waited to hear all she had to say. He asked her, "Why Mexico? Why not Puerto Rico if that was home for him?"

She exhaled. "He came from an abusive family. His dad died when he was too young to remember and his mom was an abusive woman. They moved to Puerto Rico for a short time but he stole some feria from his abusive step father and made his way back to the states and took a bus back to Carcer City. He got involved with the gang life and he got into all kinds of trouble. Banging, slinging coke, pulling robberies, he did it all. I wanna write to him to tell him what Pablo has been up to! Maybe he can help if I do."

He shook his head. "You know you aren't making the right choice by not telling Pablo, chica. He aint gonna let that one slide so easily. It's gonna drive him away if you do that. If you don't be up front with him, Del, he won't ever listen to a word you say. You gotta do the right thing. Entiendes?"

She looked at him her eyes widening and begged, "Smiley, you gotta promise not to say anything! Serio,

She exhaled. "He came from an abusive family. His dad died when he was too young to remember and his mom was an abusive woman. He stayed in Carcer City and he got jumped into the Brown Kings when he was fifteen. Mi madre was a Brown Queen. See most of the Kings and Queens in the North Side of Carcer were Puerto Rican but in the South Side of the city it was mostly Mexicans. Didn't really matter though, so long as there was brown people of all nationalities rolling for the BKN. I don't know the entire story but he almost died several times in his years as a banger. I wish he would tell me more so I could understand more. Anyway, he might be the key to Pablo getting out of the game. I need to write back to him."

She then added, "Smiley you gotta promise you aint gonna say nothing to Pablo. Por favor, hermano? Tenemos que ser inteligentes acerca de esto. Quiero ayudarlo, Smiley."

**(We need to be smart about this. I want to help him, Smiley)**

Smiley set the pool cue down. "I got your back Delores and I won't tell carnalito what's happening but sabes que? You should, homes. If I don't tell him you should. If not now, then at some point. I know you two aint as cool as you used to be and that breaks my heart, Delly. Duele el corazón. But if you want to fix that, you gotta communicate with him and you gotta talk to him like a man and not a boy, okay?"

She nodded. They finished the pool game and she ended up winning knocking the 8 ball in. She smiled wide and said, "I won! First time ever!" Smiley laughed. "I see how you are, Esa. Get me talking about familia and shit and then beat me at my own game. Horale."

He checked his cell phone and he got a text message. "Fucking kids. I miss the 90's when a vato would just call you on the damn phone. I never thought cell phones would just be another way to have entire conversations through a two way beeper In the time it takes me to type with my dumb thumb i could have called and said the same thing much faster," He read the text message. "Okay, there's one new jack I like a bit of that old school style. Little Spitz just got some info on the fools that stole our shit. We need to meet him at his studio in Idlewood. He rented out the space that used to be a community center for kids that got shut down. It's a shame they closed down something kids can use but it wasn't like they were using it anyway."

Delores raised her eyebrows. "So we gonna roll out there, then? I'm surprised he got the 411. Figured he'd be too busy rapping to be down for the varrio. I aint so sure about him."

Smiley shrugged. "He's all right, Del. He's young and he's after the feria and the fortune and fame. He'll figure out there's more to life than banging and slinging and more to life than women and money too. He just has to figure that out on his own. I respect his ambitions though, he's repping 18th street. Sabes que that's alll we really got these days. The 90's are over now we only got the name 18th street. Hardly anybody his age remembers the name Vagos that we used to go by. Just by the number of our original street name. As long as somebody shows respecto to the originals that's cool. I just hope he can maintain a balance between the streets and his music career. Vamos, he's waiting on us. Good playing with you too, hermana. Even though I lost."

They got in Smiley's 67' Savannah. "You mind driving, sister? I still got pain in my shoulder and if I'm going to be taking out as many putos I think I will be, I need to give it a rest from driving. I still got a bit of pain. If I'm going to need new bandages and stitches in a few minutes anyway I might as well enjoy the few minutes I have to lay back hope the pain kills kick in."

Delores looked to him as they began to drive out. "Speaking of stitches and bandages, how is Pablo? I was a little harsh on him when he got shot but I just wanted to show some tough love. He hasn't seemed to take any clues on the dangers of this life. Even I realize the consequences but at this point I don't have any other options. I gotta ride it out to the end even if it means that end is a dead end."

Smiley shook his head at her. "No, you can't think like that. You're gonna be fine. I've seen the differences between people that are going to make it and those who are going to die. See guys like Piernas, Spider? I knew they were destined for death. Piernas may not see it just yet but I think the same thing will happen to him. See he doesn't give a fuck about nothing else. He's never been outside of L.S not even to Mexico. He's a down vato but he's also a pendejo. He had a screwed up childhood and I think it was so fucked up he has no chance of ever being all right. I've tried to tell him this shit but he just gets upset and either goes and gets high or gets drunk. Or he goes and pulls a 187 on some poor sucker from the town. I mean even I could imagine life aside from this que no?"

As she drove them south to Idlewood she wondered if they were going to run into those girls they had seen in Idlewood that had fucked with her and the other Cholas. She hoped not. At least not today. She got a call on her cell phone as she was driving and as she did. "Hello?"

It was one of the Rollers but not the one she had fought with. It was one of the ones she had helped, Bullet. "Hey this Delores? What's cracking you got a minute?"

Delores replied, "Maybe one."

He told her, "Well check this out, we appreciate what you did for us back there in the hood you know what I'm saying? I know your boy hated that fool a lot but trust me we hated him worse. He burned us outta too much money he had to go. If it hadn't been you one of us would have done it. So really you did more of a solid for us than we did for you. I was wondering if yall might be needing any kinda help? You scratch our back and we scratch yours. As a matter of fact me and a few of the homies aint got anything going on so if you need some extra muscle for anything we got your back. I'm hoping the Rollers can work together with the Vagos. Make an equally beneficial partnership. Now we may ask you for some help somewhere down the line but for now we're in your debt. So what do you think?"

Delores thought about it. All though those Rollers had been from a different hood than Bullet and Midnight had been from, a rival hood, she didn't ever really know when the Rollers might get their shit together and unite regardless of what set or hood you were from. She wondered if it was a risk worth taking. "Can you hold on for one second?"

She turned to Smiley. "Es de los rodillos. Quieren devolver un favor a nosotros porque les ayudó con un problema que tenían. ¿Qué crees que debemos hacer? Yo y Dreamer y Peaches se metió en ella con unos rodillos de Idlewood. Años 60, creo."

**(It's the Rollers. They want to return a favor to us because we helped them out with a problem they had. What do you think we should do? Me and Dreamer and Peaches got into it with some Rollers from Idlewood. 60's I think. )**

Smiley looked concerned. "Yo No Se. Hay que tener cuidado. Nunca se sabe quién puede usted crear una trampa. Hemos tenido mala sangre con ellos, tanto como las truchas. ¿Usted confiaría en una Trucha si decían la misma cosa?"

**(I don't know. We should be careful. You never know who could be setting you up for a trap. We've had bad blood with them just as much as the truchas. Would you trust a Trucha if they said the same thing?)**

"Sé bro pero dijo que esto sería de beneficio mutuo. Era una campana rival nos metió en ella con. No estoy dispuesto a trabajar con otro Cliqua bien pero te dije que necesitábamos más aliados recuerdas? Esto podría ser capaz de curar viejas heridas entre ambas bandas."

**(I know bro but they said this would be mutually beneficial. It was a rival hood we got into it with. I'm not eager to work with another cliqua either but you said yourself we needed more allies remember? This might be able to heal some old wounds between both gangs.)**

Smiley looked outside at the scenery as they drove by it and then replied, "Multa a ganar. Les damos un disparo y si nos joder sabes lo que tienes que hacer ¿no?"

**(Fine you win. We give them a shot but if they fuck us over you know what you gotta do right?)**

**"**Sí, si se trata de que me ocuparé yo mismo. Usted no tiene que decirme dos veces." Delores assured him. "You got it Smiley."

**(Yes if it comes down to that I will deal with them myself. You don't got to tell me twice.)**

She got back on with Bullet. "Bullet you still there? We might have something you can help us with. We need you to meet us at Ocean Docks. Can you bring a few friends? This could be some heavy shit. At least as heavy as what we did for you last time."

Bullet beamed, "Hell yeah! Just let me talk to a few of my boys. You already met Midnight, I got a couple other homies we might get it on it. We'll head on out there and meet you there. I just need to talk these guys into it. Midnight isn't the easiest guy to get along with at first but he's good people once you get to know him. We'll meet ya'll out there."

They hung up and Delores continued toward Idlewood. "Shit! I forgot to ask him if he heard anything from the 60's hood Rollers. I know the Rollers are pretty divided and set trip a lot on each other but you never know if they might have decided to bury the hatchet. I guess we gotta just hope things will go smooth. Smiley, what will we be doing anyway?"

Smiley began rolling up a blunt and even though she had to make a few turns while he was rolling, he still managed not to spill any. They were finally in Idlewood. They pulled up to where Little Spitz said his studio was. They got out and began to walk up.

They knocked and a Chola dressed in a yellow blouse and black pants answered the door. She had a brown bandanna tied like a head band around her forehead. "Come on in. Spitz is in the back laying some rolas down."

They walked in and saw him rapping. Though his name was Roberto Garcia, he had been Little Spitz, the legend of the Tiny Winos. He was actually pretty good after all. A lot of what Delores had heard of him was just hearsay so far but the hype was real. Mad Dogg used to be a G, saying fuck police in the LS Streets so why does he play one on TV? Turn on CNT and what do you see? The Science Of Crime, this levas joined the one time."

Inside there were many chairs and sofas set up just like an actual apartment or rec center. Even a TV and a Sprunk machine.

Smiley laughed as he nodded to the beat Delores just smiled and nodded to the beat. Spitz went on to mention how back in the day, he had dated a woman named Rochel'le, an R&B artist in the 90's. who in the south would be known as a "Red bone" She was of African American, Irish and Venezuelan Indigenous descent. She was literally tri racial but had looked mostly Venezuelan and black all though some of her ancestry would shine more than others depending on what color she had her hair and what shape. A lot of the time despite being a woman of color she often had blonde hair.

Spitz mentioned how she could go from dating her to Vanilla Latte, Madd Dogg's current wife, a white woman with blonde hair of Serbian descent who was a model where as Rochel'le had been a model, an actress, and a singer. Spitz lyrically was tearing Madd Dogg apart. When he finished he got out of the studio and came up to greet Smiley. "Que paso, amigo? What'd you think of the bars, eh?"

Smiley grinned. "That was firme, Ese! I see you made those changes like I suggested. That was a smart move. You never wanna dick ride any of these rappers in the industry, homes. Madd Dogg? Tsk. That puto isn't from the streets. Really he shouldn't have gotten a comeback. He should have just died in Venturas. Sure he can rhyme but what good is that if you lie about the shit you did on the streets?"

Delores was curious. "What changes did you make, Spitz? That was pretty good, chico! I guess the hype wasn't all bullshit."

Little Spitz walked back into the studio and was fiddling with his equipment. "Oye, come here! I'll show you. See this was the original track I laid down but Smiley said it kinda made me look weak. See this rola is Letter To Madd Dogg, right but I had to do some revising. I mean in the original version I did diss his ass too but...mira I can show you better than I can tell you. Hold on."

He had a mostly smoked joint in his mouth that he was working on. He played the original. It had the same beat but it was different as far as the content. In the song he was basically recalling Madd Dogg's early career in gangster rap and how he used to be so anti cop and now he was playing one on TV and had been since the year 2000. It also was saying how Madd Dogg had recently signed a white rapper and why couldn't a real Latino who had been there and done that make it.

Delores liked this version too but in a different way. "Chale, Spitz, that was all right, man! What's so wrong with this version, Smiley? i don't see anything wrong with it. He could have run with that just as well."

Smiley didn't agree. "No, then he'd be kissing black ass and basically asking for a handout and a dick up his ass like that gringo Madd Dogg signed. Why does he need Madd Dogg's approval or help to make it in the rap game? He ca do that all on his own. Promote his own shit, drop demo CD's all over the varrios. Not just our varrio but all the LS varrios. Soon maybe every varrio in America! He could be the Selena of the Hip Hop world, que no? Why does he need some llanta's approval? Madd Dogg aint a real gangster so Spitz shouldn't fuck with him anyway since he's claiming to be something he aint. He'd get more respecto if he just rapped and was himself. The vato did like four years in the military."

This got a laugh out of Little Spitz as well as the chola who had let Delores and Smiley in the door. The chola took a swig off a bottle of cheap wine and passed it to Spitz who then took a swig. "Just remember, man I know you're from the Wood but when you make it big time, rapping about your cliqua, your varrio, remember to show some love to Douglass Parque, comprende? We're familia, carnalito."

Spitz took another swig and set it down. "You know it homes! Oye, Smiley you wanna smoke one real quick?" Smiley grinned revealing the fatty he had rolled up in the car. "Way ahead of you," They lit up and began to smoke. Smiley passed it to him after a toke. Spitz then took a long hit and then passed it to the chola. Before she knew it, the girl was passing it to her. "Go head! One hit won't kill you."

Delores did. She began coughing when she did. She blew the smoke out but coughed violently. "What's the dealio, Delores? You virgin lungs?" Spitz asked as he laughed. She shook her head. "No. It's just been a while."

They passed in rotation a few more times and before she knew it, Delores was keyed. She walked into the other room to see who else was there. She bumped into the bathroom door. It opened and she saw Spooky looking at her, his eyes were black as hell. She looked behind him and saw Piernas was doing a rail of cocaine. "¿Qué están haciendo ustedes dos? ¿Hablas en serio? Smiley dijo que nunca hacen nada más duro que molta!" She whispered harshly.

**(What the are you two doing? Are you serious? Smiley said never do anything harder than molta!)**

Spooky tried to hush her. "Mira, be cool, Del! I'm just trying it. I've had a stressful weak. Smiley doesn't need to know."

Gabriel looked up from his bump and laughed. "Delly, save that sober speech for somebody who gives a fuck. Like one of those promise ring faggots. They can avoid sex and blow all they want to. Not me, fool. I'm living it up in the city. No llories. I can take care of myself and so can Jorge. What Smiley don't know can't hurt him he aint my daddy. Just close the door, we'll be finished up in a minute."

She did in disgust and rolled her eyes. Though Gabriel was the homeboy it seemed he was getting worse and worse and was a terrible influence on Pablo. Then again, even when he was a lot less hardcore of a gang banger, mama had never liked him. Neither had papi either. Reminded them too much of their gang banging days but it seemed to them that gang members these days were a lot crazier than they had been back in their days.

Delores returned to the rap studio where Smiley, Spitz and the Vaga were all laughing from being stoned. She looked at him and said, "Smiley we gotta go remember? Got some people waiting on us? You still haven't told me what it is we're doing!"

He nodded. "Horale. Remember those Colombians we had a deal with that the Truchas fucked up? We're gonna be meeting with them. That vato Rivera. He's got some heroin he wants to move by boat back to dry land. He thinks that the Truchas are gonna be making a move for it too. Them and whoever they fenced it to and broke bread with for the yayo they stole. I don't know everything but I got a few sources from the hood that said the Truchas were jacking that off them and then sold it to whoever their buyers are. In return, their buyers are gonna sell them some heroin but the word on the street is, whoever these people are, they already got their fingers deep in the brown sugar bowl but rather than sell them some of their own shipment they'd rather jack it."

Spitz stood up from his chair in the studio. "Hey I'm down Smiley! Let's go jack up some Truchas! I'm down for fucking those levas up. I'm rolling with you, big homie!"

Smiley shook his head. "I don't know, Garcia. I aint sure if that's a good idea. Homie you do your thing with the music you can rep the Vagos that way but you got a way out of the varrio, Ese. You can help your people out with whatever kind of feria you mke on the roads. Go see the world, ese! Don't you want to see the great wall of China? Jerusalem? Rome? The pyramids? The world is bigger than just this varrio. This is all I got dawg but this you can do more."

Spitz insisted. "Look, man, my OG, my veterano is in the slammer right now, man! I look to you like an older brother. I wanna ride for my cliqua. I may not be from Douglass Parque but it's a home away from home, entiendes? As for Tiny Winos, that's mi familia and 106th street es mi varrio. I wanna put in work, vato. You think I don't think the same thing you do about my music? But see I don't want it to ever be said I wasn't real. That I wasn't down for whatever. You gotta take me with you, primo. So I can prove I aint like that little bitch Madd Dogg. I used to listen to that punk. I used to love his music when I was a pee wee. Then i realized he was fake."

Smiley sighed. "If you get killed, Ese...you better be careful. Me and your bit jefe go way back. I don't want any pedo with him. This isn't a good idea but if you say you got it, come on then."

They headed outside. Piernas and Spooky were now in Garcia's front room. They were watching a porno. "Damn homes...that bonita is fine as fuck. Who is she?" Gabriel was now working on a joint."You should know who that is, boboso! That's Eva Angelina! Cubana bonita. She's one of the few girls in that business that sounds like she enjoys what she does for real rather than faking it."

Delores ,Smiley and Little Spitz walked outside and got into Smiley's car.

_Ganton_

Midnight had blue bandanna tied around his head as usual and a Dribblers had on backwards over it as well as one around his neck. He also wore a black denim coat over a navy blue T shirt. He was ridiculing Bullet. "I don't trust em, loc. You be a silly motherfucker if you do, cuz. You know what kinda shit goes on in this city. Now we're rollng with wetbacks? And you want me to go with you? You trying to get us all killed, partna?"

Bullet grinned widely as he took a toke off the blunt. "Nigga, you're tripping. That girl Delores was finer than a motherfucker. She maybe a tomboy but she look like the kinda honeys you just wanna play baseball with and then get busy with her after you get all sweaty."

This got a laugh from their big homie OG Knock Out. Most people around the hood just called him KO due to his ability to fist fight back in the days when he was just a BG, a baby gangsta. He was a lighter brown African American man. He wore a LC Swingers hat and had a lot of curly hair that almost resembled a jherri curl. In the 90's when he had been an active gang banger, he did have one but now it was just natural. He was thin but athletic and wore a LC penetrators jacket over a white T shirt.

"You gotta understand, we're losing ground in Ganton, cuz. Not just our set but every set the Rollers have. We can bang as hard as we want back at them but the reality is they got the numbers. They keep growing more and more and we get less and less people. Now they pretty much run L.S. I hate to say it but it's true. Rollers, Families whatever, we aint as big as we were in the 90's. We ran this shit after 92'. My hood was deep. Still is but outside of Ganton that doesn't matter. So what good will helping them do? They wanna get all the brothers off the block. Out of L.S. if possible even!"

Bullet didn't seem to agree which made him the odd man out amongst the group of Rollers. "Not everybody thinks like a South Sider, man! The Vagos used to have no problem with us as a people before just as a gang. We beefed with them but it was on some turf shit not no black vs brown. We got way too many enemies, homie. Much as I love Ganton, we only got love for a third of the sets out here, right? That's why we're losing. We're fighting with the Ese's and we're fighting ourselves. Then wonder why we can neve come up."

Midnight laughed at him. "I think you're going soft. You must want some pussy out of it right? Cause everybody in the hood knows if you can't shoot it, fuck it, snort it or rob it, ol Bullet here aint interested! Just be careful if you do. One of those bitches might try and get pregnant by you and then expect you to marry them! They're Catholic, fool! They're all like that! They'd only be doing it so that they can get a green card and become a citizen. You can do what you wanna do but I'm telling you right now I'd just as soon have a peace treaty with the Ballas at least they're black but my point is, I'm not about to have no peace treat with some niggas that killed my homies on a daily so get that outta your head! Anybody Killa on mine all motherfucking day!" This got nods of approval by a duo of Rollers dressed in non gang colors as they walked by overhearing the conversation.

Bullet shook his head. "Nah, man for once I aint thinking with my lower head I'm thinking with my head period. Why do they gotta automatically have an alterior motive, bro? How do you know they aint over there thinking the same thing we are in their hoods? Of course there's distrust at first we had beef with them like we did the Ballas just not as much as the Ballas. They had that crack den, that mutual business attitude but that was strictly for the money. What will we get if this deal we're going to with them goes smoothly? Money! You feel me? That's the only color that should matter to you. Black and Brown make green! Cause that's how you make it in the world."

Midnight crossed his arms. "You talking about it like we already agreed to go help them! I didn't say I would! Didn't your mama ever teach you anything Bullet? People are awful! That's a general thing you should remember! If they help you, they must have some reason or angle. Like when you claimed they helped us out with that bitch ass nigga Jacob. Did they do it in good faith or did they do it cause they hated him too? They don't care that that buster owed us a lot of scrilla. They don't care that he burned the people he was supposed to on the grind with they care cause the Central American guy's sister was strung out. Funny how he thinks that he aint doing damage to the people he slings to but he cares about his sister?"

Bullet pointed out, "Hold on brother, what if that was your mama or your sister that somebody was slinging to? Maybe we all got our contradictions but that's human nature, right? Besides it goes deeper than that. I think those two were friends back in the day. That's why the Vago was pissed off. Because they had a mutual agreement that they were gonna strictly sling to the heads that already been free basing for a minute and sling to the white boys. That's where all the money's at anyway! Spooky was a different man back in the days when I knew him. Anyway, Jacob burned that nigga when they had an understanding already. Sounds familiar, Midnight? KO? He'd already been in other Roller hoods too slinging without kicking up taxes to the niggas from those hoods."

KO nodded. "That's true, bro I agree with that. Matter of fact, when I was inside there was a gang of niggas from the block that wanted it with him. Some of them didn't even bang! There's cats from all over Los Santos that want it with him for being sheisty with his money and not paying back money he owed. I even knew one cat from the Beach that was hot about that. If you got people all over and outside of town that want you dead you know you fucked up. Aight Bullet if you say this Delores girl can be trusted I'm with you but if she pulls any funny shit, she's getting laid in a ditch, got it?"

A younger guy from the hood, a kid named Dante who was from the hood and had been jumped in and had rolled with them a couple of times spoke up. "Hey me too, Bullet! Let me ride with you, playa! Just in case. You know, ya need extra backup and shit."

Knock Out shook his head. "Little cuz you need to be getting your ass to school and hitting them books! Come on, D, it's your last year! Graduate! I don't know about you but even now aint shit better thn putting a smile on my mama's face and I know that's what would happen if you did that. You don't wanna get mixed in with this shit! Some niggas aint got nothing else but the hood. That's how Midnight is. Some don't got anything but a record. That'd be me. Then you got some brothers that were made to shine! You're good at math, so why don't you become a teacher?"

Midnight burst out laughing. "Knockie, what the fuck happened to you in the joint, baby? You used to be the downest motherfucker in the GNT and now you're talking like one of those soul ass niggas with all this 'A mind is a terrible thing to waste' black power shit. You know this nigga became a Muslim, man? Yeah, a bunch of niggas find Allah in the pen but what they don't do is stay in the game! If you want in, Dante, let us know but don't end up acting like a little bitch like this nigga. Teacher. Are you crazy?"

Dante nodded. "I'm down for whatever, I'm already knowing! I aint no bitch either. Just gimme a piece and i'm your man!"

KO scolded him. "Look, partna! If you go out there all gung ho youre gonna get your fucking head blown off! You aint Jack Howitzer, man! This is real life, real flesh, real blood and more importantly real bullets. Now I'm as much of the big homie as Midnight is only I aint stupid. He just has been running things around here. You should read the Art Of War, man. A man is weakest when he believes himself strong. You got it?"

Bullet laughed. "Who has time to read some old Sun Tsu book? Come on, Dante, let's roll up outta here. You wanted your number to get called well now's your time to roll with the big boys, little nigga! I aint even entirely sure what we'll be doing but making scratch for your neighborhood aint a bad way to start."

KO scowled and insisted, "How did you know the name of the guy that wrote if you don't have time for that? Exactly..."

They loaded up into Bullet's dark green Willard.

_Meanwhile_

They got to the docks and walked down to where the boat was. River, the suave Colombian coke lord was waiting there for them. He had four armed bodyguards with him. "Delores! Como esta? And Smiley, it is good to see you again too compadre! I am glad to see you could make it. Who's the young one?"

Little Spitz shook his hand. "I'm Little Spitz. I roll with 18th street too."

The drug lord laughed, ""I don't know what this man is saying! Ahora, we got some work to do, eh? Let's get ourselves to the boat. We got some loading up to do. This shipment needs to hit the streets. Been sitting on the brown for too long," The Colombian man was dressed in an all white tuxedo and was smoking a Cuban cigar. He also had an MP5 on him while his men had AK-47's. They were all dressed in contrasting black clothes and sunglasses.

They got in his boat and he offered the three of them to sit while he drove and he made his bodyguards stand guard for any threats. Delores turned to Rivera and said, "I forgot to mention we got some guys coming to help us on the way. How will there be room for them? They offered the extra muscle and I took them up on it."

River steered them toward a big yact out a ways in the water. "I see. Ahora seniorita. This gives me an idea. We will wait for you at the yact. Me and my men. We will prepare to move the weight to smaller boats and get it to dry land. Andle, Seniorita! If you wish to retrieve your friends, you must do it yourself. Can you operate a boat?"

Delores nodded as they pulled up to his boat with which he had shipped the drugs into US waters. His men and he got out. He turned to the Mexican assasin and allowed her to get into his place at the wheel. "Mi padre had a boat like this. He used to take mi hermano fishing but then I insisted he take me with them so I learned too. When I got old enough, since Pablo had known how to fish before I did, he taught me how to drive a boat first in return. I'm not sure he ever did but anyway he taught me how."

Delores, rode back to the docs while Smiley and Spitz stayed behind on the yacht with Rivera and his men. She could see the blue clad gang members had arrived and were walking down some stairs to get to the docks.

Bullet wore a black T shirt under a blue college basketball jersey. He had no hat or bandanna on his head but he did have a blue one around his neck just as Midnight did but did not have it around his face as the other gang member did. Delores saw two Rollers she did not recognize at all.

Both were lighter skinned than Midnight and Bullet. The older looking one wore a checkered light blue button up shirt which was popular among black youth in the 90's which derived from the Cholo or pachuco gang culture who had worn plid checkered shirts in the 70's long before that and since he looked to be in his early thirties that placed him at around that age ten to fifteen years ago. He was good looking but looked like he'd seen a lot in his years. He had brown skin that was almost high yellow and had curly hair either due to a current jherri curl which was unlikely since it was 2009 or that he had once had one back in the day.

_He was probably around when L.S. was a lot different. Back when the Rollers had just been called the Families and wore a different color. Back when that guy from one of their hoods took back the city from enemy gangs practically overnight. _Delores thought to herself. Come to think of it she remembered the days when her father and Smiley would talk, as Smiley was one of the gang members from the neighborhood he respected, and Smiley would tell him of how "Some pinche mayate" from a hood that wasn't even active anymore had helped the cliqua from El Corona take back their barrio. Though she had never called Smiley on it, she had later found out that the Vagos had tried to take their hood so that was merely retribution.

She knew this but never said it. She didn't want to get checked by the homies. Demoralization among the younger ones was a no no. She observed the other gang member who was younger. He had corn rows and he wore stonewashed gray sagging jeans and a brown T shirt with the Binco logo on it. As they approached with the boat Delores beckoned to them. "Hop in. We're going to go for a ride. Catch a bigger boat."

Midnight and the other two reluctantly got in but Bullet greeted her warmly. "How's it going, miss? What's cracking with you? Looking good!"

She smiled coyly and steered back to the yacht. "Not a lot. Taking care of business. Who are these two?"

Bullet introduced his homies. "This is KO, OG Knock Out. He's the big homie from the block. Big time old school Roller old school family OG. Back when we were the Nutty Hood Family not Rollers. He just got out the pen. Trying to cool out but you know how it is. Hard for an ex con to come by paper the legit way, ya know? This little scrawny ass nigga right here is Dante. He just got rolled into the hood but he's a down lil homie he helped us out in a few squabs with the Ball Sacks. This is Delores, ya'll. She's the one that smoked Jacob."

They got to Rivera's boat seven minutes later. "I don't know about this deal guys. This could go bad. Just in case are any of you strapped?" KO revealed the Glock 18 he had tucked in his shirt. "Might as well be my ID cause I never leave home without it! Never hurts to be ready for any belligerent bastards trying to ride on us."

Midnight looked at him laughing. "The fuck did you do? Damn, fool I know you became a rug hugger in the pen but did you do anything in there aside from read? I mean anything? I would have thought you would have kept it real on the inside, bruh. i guess I was wrong. Not even lifting weights, cuz? That's all the homies do in there! Should have got you some muscle. You always were a lanky ass nigga. Thought the pen would have did ya some good!"

Knock Out looked at him like he was insane. "Are you ignorant, bro? The pen never did anybody any good! Even if it did, reading makes more sense than lifting! I did both but that's why we keep going in there. They want us to go back. They want us to be locked like animals in a cage. Do you want that? I got a wife, partna. I aint no sucker I also got a daughter. Now I'm always down for the set so don't you call me out on that shit again or you gonna catch a fade, that's on the hood. But Allah and my family comes first. They expect us to have a strap. They don't expect us to pick up a book."

Bullet stepped between the two gang bangers. "Look, man where's the homie love at? Stall that bullshit around strangers. Making us look weak. Midnight, you need to stop acting like an asshole. If Knockie wants to read let him read! Your dumb ass should pick up a book yourself, you might just learn something!"

Midnight cracked a shit eating grin. "Whatever, fam. Just promise you aint gonna end up becoming no Muslim, man. Can't drink, can't smoke can't do shit. Can't get no pre-marital ass if you want to."

Bullet rolled his eyes. "Yeah whatever, homes lets just get this over with. We got a job to do remember? Delores, what you need, baby?"

Delores responded, "Well if you three are through jerking each other off..." This got a laugh from Bullet and even Dante grinned but then stopped grinning when he saw Midnight was somehow managing to mean mug Delores with one eye and him for laughing with the other. "Follow me. It isn't what I need its what the guy I'm working for...with. What he needs."

They got onto the yacht and Rivera greeted them. "Hola, muchachos! Delores, bella, ¿Cuál es sus nombres?"

**(Hey guys! Delores, beauty, what is their names?)**

The Colombian drug lord introduced himself. "Me llamo Luca Rivera. Y tu?"

Delores introduced them all according to their names,however KO stepped up and said, "Actually, my name is Arlandis Hinton, that's my birth name but I go by Al Hassan Naqiyy. You can call me whatever works though, sir," Though he was a gang banger, his mother had raised him to be respectful.

Rivera shook hands impressed that he had shown manners unlike the others who were too weary with suspiscion but Bullet followed Knock Out's cue and did the same. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Rivera. I'm just Bullet. These two idiots are Midnight and Dante. Actually, nah Dante aint stupid he just green is all. Midnight though, he's an asshole take it from me I been knowing him since second grade."

Midnight flipped him off. "Nigga, fuck you! So what what are we gonna be doing on this boat? You need to chuck a body in the ocean or what?" He asked directing his question to Rivera. Rivera lead them to some suit cases loaded with bricks of heroin. "It's a few minutes boat ride back to shore. Some of mi amigos have a delivery truck parked and waiting for me ashore. Your job will be simple. You will help me load these onto the truck when we get there. And protect the shipment of course."

Midnight nodded, slightly lightening up at the thought of turning a profit. "Cool but what kind of paper are we talking about? Bills don't get paid on respect alone. Or honor and good faith for that matter. Mucho dinero, amigo. You feel me?"

Rivera questioned one of his men in Spanish. The man then replied to him in kind and Rivera smiled. "Ah si. Yes, I feel you, amigo. So you know Espanol, eh?"

Midnight shook his head. "No but let's just say I know how to say federal reserve in every way there is to say it. You didn't answer my question though."

Rivera said, "Oye, I will pay you a handsome fee. Do not worry. You have a Bank Of Liberty account, yes?" Midnight and his homies nodded accordingly. "Of course. Who doesn't? This is the twenty first century. Except for Bullet here. He's got notes stashed in random hiding spots around the house cause he doesn't trust the bank or the government with his money. Doesn't even know that shit is insured!"

Bullet scowled. "I got an account too. I just keep most of my dough out of the bank so if we gotta bail out more of those assholes on the Bawsaq again, I don't get screwed in the process."

Rivera nodded. "Muy bien. I will pay each of you twelve grand to do this for me. If all goes well, maybe I have jobs for you later, yeah? I'm sure whoever your gang is, they can use another connection for the coka business. I have the purest cut product but that is a story for another time. Vamos! Let's get these loaded onto the boats, okay? I have a couple of spare dingy's so we can move the stuff back and forth to the vans. This boat we are on, she maybe my baby but she is slow!"

They loaded up some of the product onto the Dingy Delores had been driving. Another was provided for Rivera and his men as well as Midnight who insisted he knew how to drive one of them. Then, as he loaded up his Mac-10 just in case decided, "Why don't you drive the boat, Mr. Hassan? Since you a changed man and all you can't be slinging and you damn sure can't be blasting motherfuckers if they try to jack the shipment. So why don't you do something you can do? Drive the boat! Aint nothing in the Koran about that being bad is, it?"

Knock Out took the wheel but said, "Fool, you're tripping. If anybody tries to gank us i'm gonna handle my business especially if they shoot at me. Self defense is an entirely different thing from murder. Anyways, don't forget who you're talking to, man! I maybe trying to turn my life around but it aint easy to do especially when I can't get a nine to five. Plus i got more stripes on the set than you do so you better remember that. Also, don't mock the word of God, brother. People are afraid of what they don't understand and you're living proof of that!"

Midnight scoffed. "Just shut the fuck up and drive, man! Don't nobody wanna hear that shit! You think you're Malcolm or Huey or Farrakhan up in this motherfucker? We aint! Nigga, they had their war and we got ours. Theirs was against segregation and inequality and ours is against these Ball Sack niggas. We come up on this heroin and we can mop these fools up! Back in the day homies weren't tryna go near the powder so they had no power! We even had one bitch ass nigga that went turn coat on us but still he had the right idea regarding slinging. No caine, no gain. We're at war, fool and don't you forget it!"

KO rolled his eyes. "Yeah it's like the nigga version Cuban missile crisis."

Midnight stared out at the water. "Whatever, punk just don't crash the boat. I know you probably couldn't handle a plane but can you at least steer a boat?"

KO shot him a scowl and Midnight laughed. "Quit bugging, Haji I'm just playing fool. Don't gotta get butt hurt every time somebody bags on you. I don't even know why you're so defensive of the Koran either! Aint like you're the one who wrote it!"

KO was mad at what he had said. "You're just jealous cause you got no religion. You enjoy being ignorant! You're still a slave. I'm trying to get off this path, man. I know it leads to destruction. When I got paroled I knew i was given a second chance. I'm trying to be a changed man but belligerent cats like you are trying to suck me back into a life of sin! You can't even imagine anything that isn't beyond your immidiate surroundings! You wanna kill a brother for wearing red. Back in the days it was purple. I did all that and I don't have anything to be proud of. The prphet even spoke of you. Men like you who would deny the truth and refuse to listen to reason."

Dante chimed in. "The prophet? But aint that guy a pedophile? I know I was reading some shit back in the day or maybe I heard some shit from somebody who used to be Muslim. This guy had a nine year old wife. Nah...actually she was more like eight! Or was it six? Doesn't matter! How can your religion get behind a child molester?"

KO was already on the defense but calmly said, "That's an accusation none of us are new to. He was not a pedophile, man. He didn't fit the modern definition of a pedophile. Marriage customs back then are different from what it is now. Besides they didn't consummate their marriage for several years anyway with Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her. Don't speak on what you don't know, brah. You probably were raised Christian right? Well it's ridiculous to think that Mary was a virgin for life even if you do believe Jesus was the son of God but anyway she was like 12 to 14 and Joseph had to be in his forties. Bet you didn't think of that did ya?"

Dante scowled and said, "Fool that aint true! I don't know where you heard that but you're wrong. That aint how it was told to me by my grand mama!"

Midnight snorted. "Your grand mama's a goddamn liar, D. You know what a religious war is? It's a fight to see who has the best imaginary friend."

They reached the shores. Delores and her crew arrived at the shore and began loading it up into the back of a company truck. Two men she presumed worked for Rivera were standing guard with AK-101 Assault Rifles. One of them was clean shaven , a South American man but he was darker skinned than Rivera was. He had slicked back hair and sunglasses on. He wore a black sports jacket that must have cost a lot of feria at Purseus. He wore some black slacks and brown loafers with it. "You Delores? We appreciate the help, Amiga! It aint honest trabajo but it sure is easy!" The other was a man who was bald.

He was of the same ethnicity as the other guard but he was three inches short standing at five foot six. He wore a gold chain over a white tank top. He also wore blue dickies. Delores and the homies helped load up the heroin into the truck. As they were nearly done loading it up, gunfire sounded off. The bald man cursed in Spanish. "Hijo de puta! Who are these cabrones?" He fired his AK at the attacking party. Delores had a Glock 17 that she had exchanged with Maria back in the hood two days ago for the one she had been using.

She stepped out of the back carefully but went back in as her head was nearly taken off as rounds from a similar weapon were fired at her. A blue comet pulled up and two heavily armed men wielding MP5's got out. Delores drew a bead on them figuring them to be members of the Trucha but it was not their usual style of vehicle. They usually, like the Matones and the Vagos themselves, liked G rides. Low riders and old school cars from the 60's and 70's. This was was too luxurious and European for the likes of the Truchas to afford or even desire to drive in.

She fired five shots at the man on the passenger side as he got out. Three of her bullets hit him going through the windshield as she saw his blood get on it even as he got out. She kept firing and hit him once in the right shoulder and again in the face. He went down and his body was twitching as it lay in a bloodied state next to the car. She fired at the other man, who was now aiming for her upon seeing her. He fired and she ducked down hitting the floor of the back of the truck still squeezing off shots. She hit him with two and wanted to shoot again but he was finished off by one of Rivera's bodyguards.

Little Spitz came out firing his .50 Desert Eagle and even as he fired upon one of two other newly arrived cars, this one being a tan Intruder. "Man fuck you maricons! Who do you think you are?! You got a death with? Barrio 18th street puto!" He fired and hit a gang member before he was able to get to cover, the passenger on the drivers side of the back seat of the Intruder. He snatched up one of the MP5's off of the dead attackers. "Hey these guys aint MT's, ese! They're chinos! Some well dressed ones too! And look at the hardware they got their boys packing!"

Delores bolted for the car and bullets whizzed past her ear almost hitting her as the Asian gang members opened fire on her. She barely made it to cover and she felt a round graze her left hip but it was such a light graze that she ignored it for the time being. She took one of the H&K Sub Machine Guns as well and shook the dead gang member down for ammo. He had three magazines as did the one Little Spitz had taken. He fired from the cover of the bullet riddled Comet at one of the gang members who was firing from a red Coquette. He hit the man in the face with a burst of rounds.

Delores examined the Chinese gang member she had killed. She examined a tattoo on his arm. "These guys are Triads. See that red dragon right there?"

Spitz peppered rounds at the enemy gang members blindly with his back mostly to the car and to them but still in cover as he wanted to stay down from the constant bombardment of rounds hitting the Comet. "Well that's just fucking great! They're real feared back east but this is the fucking wild west and these pendejos better remember it! L.S. is our city!"

The bald hired thug for Rivera mowed down two Triads with rounds from his AK-101. The two went down one taking many rounds in the back the other taking rounds in the left rib area and in the right knee cap. He cried out in pain but even as the Triad dropped his own Assault Rifle, he turned around already having drawn his Walther P99. If he hadn't been already wounded from that, he would have been dangerous being able to draw another gun at that speed. He let off a few shots and Delores saw at least one, possibly more than one had hit the bald man in the side. The man had just finished reloading and as he did he growled in rage and pain.

"You want some?! Fucking Triad panochas!" He let off twelve rounds in the already wounded Triad gangsters body. The last four rounds destroyed the Chinese gangsters face, tearing his jawline apart. In retaliation, that same guard was fired upon by a Triad who had been taking cover but was now on the offensive. The man tried to take cover behind the truck but as he did, he took a single round from the AK shower in his neck on the left side. He held his bloody wounded and dropped his AK but retrieved his own pistol, an H&K VP70 which he began firing from the side of the truck with one hand while holding the gushing wound in his neck with the other.

The slicked haired suave cartel thug had shot a Triad who had just pulled up on a green Sanchez before he could get off the bike but was cut down as two other Triads taking cover opened fire on him with MP5's. He rattled as the rounds tore him apart hitting every internal organ. The man fell to the pavement lifeless with blood all over his body and his mouth. One of the two Triads, a man with shaggy black hair, a leather jacket and tan pants, fired more rounds into his face obliterating his skull chipping away at the flesh and through the tissue chipping at his nose and blasting it in bloody chunky pieces.

"Rivera and his petty excuse for a drug cartel are no match for us! If any of you value your lives, you will relinquish the drugs at once! Why should you die for some would be drug lord? Real cartels see him as a joke!" Shouted the man as he fired at Delores but she ducked back down. The car was starting to smoke up. She fired from the side blindly and six rounds hit him in the left shin bone. He squealed like a stuck pig and collapsed holding his wound and tried to wiggle his way out of the line of fire. She sprayed more at him and nailed him right in the sternum. Two more cars, one a Red Comet, the other, a purple intruder, pulled up. Duos from each car emerged firing.

Spitz filled the other thug who had shot Rivera's guard, with rounds from the H&K emptying the last round into him just as he fell. The guard with the bald head was still firing his handgun at the Triads but was missing badly, staggering dizzily as a result of both blood loss combined with the hot sun. Delores reloaded and took cover behind the driver side door of the truck they were to use. "Where the fuck is Smiley?" Shouted Spitz. Delores replied, "Did you lace your blunt, man? We left him back at the boat with Rivera! We gotta make sure these fuckers don't destroy this truck too!" She fired as she had a new magazine and took down one of the Triads, a lean Asian male standing at five foot four inches, who wore a black tux, in the chest and in the throat.

The man went down and she also hit another Triad, this one a female in red clad leather but she took cover behind the black intruder and was wounded and not dead. The bald guard was leaking blood all over his tank top thus changing the color seemingly from white to red. His eyes rolled in his head and he collapsed face down.

Delores took the AK-101 from his dead body. She looted two magazines from the fallen Cartel member as well. Little Spitz took the other Assault Rifle and fired hitting one of the gang members who had shot at them as he ws trying to get back into cover and four rounds hit the Triad in the left shoulder and it split the muscle between his arm and shoulder, the rounds tearing the tendon up, causing rip in the muscle and two rounds also hit him in the left side near his arm pit as well as one near the ribs. He fell to the ground writhing in agony still alive but he was down and out.

Delores fired at the woman with her MP5 blindly from around the side of the Comet and hit the woman with seven rounds in the left shoulder blade and the woman fell against the trunk of the car. She let off five more rounds which hit her in the belly. She fell to the ground, sliding against the car on her own blood. The last two Triads tired at them and pinned them down into cover but they moved between cars getting behind the Intruder as the Comet was all but destroyed. "You're fucking with the wrong people, joto! Mara 18 motherfuckers! We're the baddest varrio in town! Puro dieciocho!"

The Triads cackled. "You two are going to meet the same fate as those other two by the truck. If you had cooperated and surrendered the heroin we could have resolved this peacefully!" More automatic fire sounded from a different weapon and a third party. The last two Triads fell, one taking seventeen rounds in the back including in the spine leaving him paralyzed upon his own death and even if he had survived it wouldn't have been much better of a fate. The othe Triad took two rounds in the back of the melon, hitting him directly in the brain stem.

Delores looked to see Midnight and the other Rollers, he holding a smoking Uzi in hand, a wicked grin across his face. Bullet called out to her. "Hey ya'll we're gonnna load the rest of these bricks up. You two should book back to Rivera's boat. There are more Triads attacking them, they're rolling deep with all kinds of boats only rich folks from Market could normally afford! We'll load ours up and we'll meet you back there or back here. Rivera says to not lose any of the stuff!"

They got back on their own Dingy and Delores drove back as the Rollers got to shore and proceeded to load up the truck with the drugs. They sped through the water and suddenly a Dingy came riding up on them, and three Triads with Uzi's all opened fire. Delores kept her head low and Spitz likewise got low and stayed in a crouched position and fired his own AK-101. "You just get us there! I'll deal with thesey morons!" He fired on the three men, lighting all of them up, first the two shooters and then the driver, with automatic rounds, and one by one, they fell, the driver and a passenger falling off the boat while the other just simply collapsed still on board holding his bleeding stomach.

Without a driver the boat crashed and flipped over. There were three more Triads coming, each one, on jet ski's. There was also another on a Jetmax. Spitz kept firing at all of them, he knocked one Triad off of his own ride and hit another in the chest causing him to collapse against the control gears. The last, he wounded by shooting their weapon from their hands. He took the man's middle finger, pinky, index and thumb off. The man shreiked in pain but he reached for a pistol he kept as a sidearm and fired several shots at their boat one of which narrowly missed Delores's ear. Spitz unloaded 12 rounds from his Assault Rifle into the man's face and blew his head apart splitting it part like a watermelon hitting the ground.

They got back to the boat and as they boarded it, they could see there was already several Triads on board the ship having a shootout with Rivera and his men as well as Smiley. No matter how much they were well armed and attempting to fend the Triads off, they just had kept coming. A Cartel guard fell into the water as he took a round in the solar plexus. Rivera cursed at the Triads for this. "Hijo de la chingada! You want a war?! I'll give you a fuckin war! Smiley, shoot these cabrones!" Smiley fired the pump shotgun he had and blew the knee cap out of one Triad gang member who wore a black mask over his face. The man squealed like a barn yard animal and fell clutching at the mess that was his knee which now looked like uncooked hamburger meat. Smiley pumped and fired again hitting him in the chest. The blast from the weapon blew the man's chest cavities apart and tore holes in the clothing to the point where you could still see his heart beating. Another Triad fired at him and had just ran out of ammunition when he aimed at Smiley having concentrated his fire at the other guards.

Smiley clubbed him with the shotgun. The man went down and Smiley fired another shot blowing his head to pieces, the ugly scarlett color now coating the boat's floors. "Oye, Delores! These fuckers must be the same kind of Triads that dusted my homie back in the day! He just went and killed him in his own pad. Big Papa. Time for a little pay back, que no?"

Delores remembered who he was. He had been a major hustler for the Vagos back in the day and had been from their barrio. Some homies made a lot of money and would try and move to the suburbs and still try to operate out there. Often this was seen as a sucker move as it implied that they were trying to escape the streets and that they couldn't hang. Big Papa had seized the mansion from the famous rapper Madd Dogg because he was a coke addict and Papa had strung him out on the shit.

That had been their base of operations for a while when they needed a place to lay low. It had been a spot where Vago cliques from all over the city would come to party, get high and get laid. Then some high roller, a gang banger from Grove Street Families which these days, was an inactive hood, had laid him out and taken the mansion back. Carl Johnson. The late gang banger was ironically the reason the gang had adopted the High Roller name. Was due to his money and success as Madd Dogg's new manager. They had united all the Family hoods and they had then embraced their new name. He had tried to keep his own hood and other hoods in Ganton and South Central, out of the drug trade so he would try use the money he already made from other fronts to fund the sets.

Nobody was quite sure why they had gone from wearing green to blue. Hardly anybody wore green anymore except for a few OG's in Ganton who had been around in the 1990's.

Smiley whistled to Spitz and Delores yelling, "Vamos! We got more of these chavalas we gotta shoot! They're everywhere!" He pumped the shotgun and fired as a Triad attempted to climb the rail of the boat. He fired a couple of more shots at a couple Triads who actully were hanging on to the rail over the side from the other side. One man fell even as he was only wounded from the shotgun blast and he plummeted into the ocean. The other Triad fired his pistol over the side, hitting Smiley with a round in the arm. The Chinese goon rushed after him and fired at him again hitting him with another slug.

Smiley heaved his empty shotgun at him and beamed the guy in the head with it and knocked him on his ass. Smiley held his bleeding arm. The Triad lay there dazed, his head bleeding. Smiley retrieved the cuete he had in his pants, a Beretta. He saw three Triads and fired at them as they rounded the corner from the other side of it. "More Triads, starboard! Rivera, I could use some help over here, homes!"

Delores took a round in the chest from a Triad. She was glad she was wearing another vest. She took nine more rounds in the chest. "You gang banger scum are going down! We take your drugs and your lives!" Screamed one Triad with an accent as he fired at one of Rivera's guards, a stocky Colombian American man who was hit in the gut, staining up the black suit he had purchased from Dildier Sachs. Rivera screamed as he unloaded on a Triad dressed in a black T shirt, brown pants, and a golden and black striped windbreaker over it. The rounds rattled his body as he hit him in the stomach and the chest. The man shook and fell on the floor taking three more rounds in the back. "You wanna play, eh? I show you what happens to any cocksuckers who would joke with mi de niro!"

Two more of his guards fell from rounds as the Triads attacked them from all sides. One was hit in the groin, the other in the top of the skull. Delores fired her MP5 from her downed position and let them tear into the shoes of the Triad who had shot her, the foreigner. She swept the rounds up his shins on both legs and then up to his knees. He howled in pain and she got to her feet. She unloaded the last of her rounds into his chest but saw that he was wearing a vest as well. The rounds merely stunned him but he was otherwise unharmed other than the bullet wounds in his legs.

She was out of ammunition for the MP5. There were two Triads coming at her and she fired the rounds left in her AK. She killed one of the men, shooting him through the teeth and would have drawn on the other Triad but ran dry. He tried to bring his weapon up to shoot her but she flung the MP5 at him. He dropped the weapon and Delores kicked it away from him. He was a short but athletic Asian man. He swung a fast punch on Delores hitting her in the face. She tackled him and drove her knee into his groin and then his stomach and hit him with a hard left to the jaw.

She was then punched in the stomach and as she tried to counter it with a punch he caught her arm and reversed it on her. Delores charged at him again with a right hook but he grabbed her arm and flung her to the ground and followed up with a kick to the ribs. She backed away thinking, _Great...as if one fist fight this week wasn't enough. Why did I have to run out of ammo? Ah hell that's not the problem it's just this guy maybe more of a challenge than those Roller hood rats. _She thought.

She got to her feet and he hit her with an open fist. She flailed at him but it was a feeble blow. He then kicked her feet out from under her. She did the same to him as she hit the ground. She kicked him as he landed and he got back on his own feet. Delores threw a punch at him and he blocked it. She head butted him and rammed into him with her left shoulder. The Triad grabbed her and drove his knee into her chest and knocked the wind out of her. She stumbled back and he threw several blows to the face.

Her lip was bleeding and her jaw was sore but she was pissed. Delores charged at him and began swinging in a fury. He blocked most of them and reversed them on her hitting her back but she kept coming at him with blows to the face. She head butted him again causing him to bleed from the nose. She drop kicked him in the knee cap and finally dropped him to his other knee as this one fell out from under him. Delores kicked his right knee in. The guy was clearly a trained fighter in self defense but she had gotten lucky. She grabbed him by the collar and slammed his head into the floor five times. When he didn't get up she figured him either dead or out cold.

She grabbed the AK and reloaded. Delores noticed the muzzle flashes at the docks as she could see the Rollers were now engaging in gunfire with the Triads at the docks who were trying to attack them as they loaded up their share. Rivera and his last two men emptied rounds into the last of the Triads on his boat. "Oye! That's the last of them! We need to go now! We take the last of the shipment back on our boat. You three just cover us on our way back!"

Smiley had picked up two Micro Uzi's that one of the dead Triad's had been carrying. They got onto the boat and Delores drove after Rivera's Dingy. More Triads on boats were coming after them and those that weren't were arriving at the shore and going after Bullet, Dante, Midnight and KO. Dante, clerly the youngest, was firing his 9mm like a madman and had dropped two Triads behind an orange Infernus. "Yeah! G's up, scrubs down, boi! Bow down to Nutty Hood, fool! What's really hood with your bitch ass?!"

Even KO was firing his Glock to defend himself and dropped one Triad, a man with a punk rock haircut. "What did I tell you about being cocky, man? Remember what I told you about from the Art Of War!"

Midnight scolded the Roller OG. "Man, let the little nigga have his moment! He's getting his blast on!" They fired at the Triads and Bullet encouraged Dante to take cover. "Protect your neck, loc. Don't let them creep up on you." Dante ducked down and reloaded. "Motherfucker, I can handle my own business! Quit hating! I'm the new generation of hoo ridas."

KO yelled, "Well I'm the old school generation, fool and I know what I'm talking about! You wanna be a High Roller like I been hearing about a few years ago when yall were rolling in dough or do you wanna be in a bodybag? Better show your older g's some respect cuz. Money doesn't last forever and respect is all we got."

KO ran back to the boat to get more of the drugs to load up onto the truck. Bullet picked up an M-16 A2 off of a dead Triad that he had dropped. He looked down the sights and said, "Yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about! Yo, Knock Knock hurry up, man! I'll buy you a little more time but let's not drag ass out here!" He aimed down the sights at a carload of Triads who had just arrived in a dark red Merit. He unloaded on them, hitting one Triad who had a tattoo of a dragon on his neck. He hit the guy in the chest with seven rounds and they went out of his back.

They went down as the rounds rattled a second Triad, this one bald, hitting him in the upper chest, right shoulder, and his neck. The third one he shot, he hit in the stomach and then more rounds went through his right shoulder and the rounds exited out of his back. The gang member cried out in pain. He bled out of his mouth but was still somehow in the fight. The rounds had gone through him but had missed most of the major arteries. Still, he had some internal bleeding from one slug.

Dante came out from cover firing at the fourth Triad who had two pistols in hand. He fired both at him and Dante was hit a few times, one in the left side of the abdomen and two in the right hip. He went down but discharged three shots as he fell. He aimed from the ground and fired, this time with both hands. He hit the man with two rounds in the abdomen which lodged into his gull bladder. The gang member fell after voiding his bowels. Knock Out made a face. "That's disgusting. Remind me to die on an empty stomach so that doesn't happen to me."

Midnight let his Uzi rip at a newly arrived Green Cheetah. He sprayed at the passenger, hitting him with rounds to the face and chest, two rounds hitting him in the left eye causing the eyeball to hang from the socket as his head was bleeding all over the windshield. He hit the other Triad, the driver and the guy ducked out of the car using the door as cover, a tactic Delores had often used.

Dante stood up turning his pistol sideways at the corpse of the man he had just killed and put a final round in the forehead. "Yeah! 165 you bitch ass nigga! I'm still here!" He yelled 165,, referring to the street 165th in Ganton, the particular neighborhood they were from. Bullet fired and hit a Triad in the face with several rounds. "Fuck that noise, fam. I'm gonna have a big order of prime rib the day I go out. Some buffalo wings, and maybe some tacos. I mean i'ma be dead if I shit on myself anyway so why should I give a fuck? Knockie you tripping. It'd be somebody else's problem. That's kinda the funny part of it."

One last Triad had managed to get off the ground, wounded but not dead and he reached for his own Assault Rifle. He had taken rounds from Midnight in the back. Knock Out fired his Glock nine times and the rounds bombarded the wounded gang member putting a quick stop to even the slightest chance of a threat.

Delores kept the Dingy after Rivera and Spitz yelled, "Hey we got some more of them on our eights! Keep after Rivera and we'll keep these little shit heads off our backs!" He fired his AK with fury at a gold Dingy where four Triads were in pursuit opening fire on both boats. He let off thirty rounds at them and yelled, "Vagos control this shit, punk don't you forget it!" He hit all of them but the driver but as Smiley sprayed both at them, he hit the man letting nine rounds off into his right temple.

Rivera yelled at the two of his bodyguards, "Keep these assholes back! I'm trying to drive, stupido!" They shouted back above the thunder of Assault Rifle fire, "We're trying, jefe! They just keep coming we already just took out a Jetmax to our right!" Rivera shouted back, "Cabron! I don't care how many you have to kill, you just keep shooting until they all stop chasing us."

More Triads fired at their boat and the boat began to catch on fire. "Chingada!" Screamed Rivera. He jumped off and hit the water hard. One guard was wounded from AK rounds the other was unharmed. At least until the boat exploded. Delores turned the boat around and Spitz reloaded while Smiley unloaded on the boat who had shot Rivera's boat to shit, a man in a two seated boat. Smiley shot that man along with the driver, lighting them up with rounds from both Uzi's. Delores stopped near where the Colombian drug lord had landed and Spitz helped him into the Dingy. "Those Triad snakes! That was ten bricks we have in my boat!"

They drove back to the shore and Delores said, "Forget the shit! Yeah it aint the same as 30 kilos but twenty aint light either! Just be glad you escaped with your life and your ass intact. I can't say the same for your compas back there. Sorry that happened. It seemed so fast..."

Rivera scoffed. "Those peasants weren't any amigos of mine! They are a dime a dozen. Expandable to me! This is the rules of doing business, beautiful. Some are valued employees and others are just another peasant glad to work for me. I'm more concerned that these petty snakes would think they could try and steal from me! If the Triads want a war,m they will have it."

Delores was disturbed at what he said. "Serio? You just seem them as men to use? They're human lives, senior. I'm not so sure I understand your position on the deaths of your men. How will you distinguish between 'valued employees' and those who are just a dime a dozen as you said?"

Rivera laughed. "It seems to me you have a lot to learn about rules of engagement when it comes to the money."

They got to the docks and saw the Rollers finish off the last of the Triads. "We got the shit loaded up. You okay? You look like you went for a swim Mr. Rivera!" Bullet cracked lightly after having emptied his pistol into a Triad gang member.

Rivera scowled. "Do I look like I'm in a laughing mood?" Delores looked at Bullet and said, "Never mind that, are you four okay? How did you hold up here?"

Midnight answered, "Dante here took a couple slugs but it aint no thang. We straight. It's all gravy on our end. We ready to get up outta here? I think one time is gonna be here pretty soon."

Just then they heard a loud speaker. _"This is the San Andreas Coast Guard! Drop your weapons and surrender! You are under arrest!" _All of the gang members spotted the boat where two coast guard officers were aboard and one had an M4 Carbine aimed at them. He fired eleven rounds and hit Delores and she fell down the stairs to the docks. Rivera unloaded on both of them with his own Rifle and Dante saw that one had survived. He was wounded and had fell out of the boat. Dante aimed his pistol the same way again, at the wounded coast guard officer.

"Say good night pig." Dante sneered. The guy begged, "Come on, man I got a girlfriend, a baby on the way...I just wanted to...pay for college...I'm just...doing my job...if you kill me...you'll have the US...Military...on your ass..." Dante chuckled. "You said you were willing to die for your country, right? Well here it is! Shouldn't have stuck your nose in our business!"He fired the entire magazine in the guy, showing extreme overkill. The man's limp corpse began to turn the water red as he floated in the now cloudy water.

The youth was ecstatic. He turned to Midnight. "Damn, son, hey this shit is fun. Why didn't you tell me it'd be a rush dumping on people? I can see why you get down like this, Night!"

Knock Out rolled his eyes. "Way to go, Reggie. You went and made another socio path like you. The world just became a much brighter place."

Dante shook his head. "Hey black, don't even trip, homes! Soon as we get up outta here and get paid, you and me, are hitting up the town, player. Hit the clubs get our drink on, smoke on and our fuck on. I mean you been locked up right? You probably fiending for some pussy. I know how niggas on lock down get after being in jail all that time."

OG Knock out tried to stop him and tell him he had no interest in doing that. "D, I'm a married man! I got a wife at home. A daughter too. They need me! They need me more than the hood needs me. I wanna give this shit up. I'm tired of killing. It's fucked up. I converted to try and be a changed man too and if I aint living it, that makes me a hypocrite! I gotta stop this. You should too. I didn't want to make another brother follow my path, loc! You remind me of my homie Bigs from back in the day. He got shot a lot and he did a lot of time in the pen. He went to the same pen I did but then he ended up on death row for stabbing a hack."

Dante shook his head. "Well look, I got a open mind, bro. If there's some things you wanna school me on, I'm all for it. I can't promise I'm gonna agree with it but maybe I can he..." Just then his head exploded in a burst of blood, broken skull and brain matter. Delores looked and saw that it was a helicopter. _Policia! _She thought as she saw the sniper. "Motherfucker! That was my lil cuz, bitch! Who do you think you are?!" Bullet yelled as he fired up at the helicopter. He hit the one who had shot Dante, aiming but also spraying all over the side of the chopper.

The man had on body armor but he fell due to the impact off the side and it was a long drop to the ground. There was another sniper on the other side of it. Delores fired her AK-101 at the chopper, firing it all over it and she saw it begin to swerve. It exploded as it hit one of the loading docks since she had either wounded or killed the pilot. If it hadn't been the blast that had crushed the poor bastard, it was being crushed to death or even impaled or decapitated.

Delores looked around she motioned to Smiley and Rivera and whistled. "Vamanos! I hear sirens! We gotta go, Ese! The chotas are coming."

There were cops there already. The squad cars began coming at them. Rivera got into the front seat of the truck and started it and began to drive them out of there. Little Spitz grabbed a wounded Triad who had several rounds in his knee cap as well as in his back but he was alive. "We got a live one, homes! Hey come on, ese!"

They got into the back of the truck, all except for Rivera and Smiley who rode up front in the cab. Rivera ducked below the steering wheel as they drove toward the blockade of police cars firing at them. They rammed a squad car and the car rammed into a police lady sending her flying back. Bullets went through the windshield and two hit Rivera in the arm. "Fuck! These putos try to ruin my nice suit! Goddamn federales!"

The cops on foot chased after the back of the truck. Delores had taken more AK ammo off some dead bodies before she had gotten in. She fired at the cops chasing after them and was glad she and the others had gang rags over their faces to conceal their identity but she knew it would be no easy task to get rid of the cops. Her rounds went through the vest of the officer and she saw him bleed through his black uniform and he collapsed in the street. They fired back and she took two rounds in the chest but she stood firm remembering that in most cases when somebody wearing a vest fell, it was more mental, through their own doing and fear, that caused them to rather than physical force.

It also often depended on the size of the gun and if you were full of adrenaline which Delores, though very tired, was chock full of. She aimed for one of the cops who had shot her. A black male in his forties. She fired on him hitting him in both the chest and the stomach. Her rounds blew out his kidney. He gasped falling to the ground wheezing, "Goddamn it, I'm gonna have to be put on a transplant list..."

She fired at two officers, one, a female of Central American ancestry, and the other, a white male with a blonde military style haircut. She killed the woman with rounds to the throat. The guy, she wounded, taking out his left arm as several rounds slammed into it nearly tearing his forearm down to the bone. She ran dry and had to reload but not before one round hit him in the bladder.

_"This is the LSPD! Pull over and turn off your vehicle! Surrender or we will kill you all!"_

Delores couldn't tell where the loudspeaker had come from. She and Midnight fired at the cop cars as they came after them. Delores took two rounds in the stomach and as Rivera took a sharp turn, a round also hit her in the back as the passenger in a cop car fired at her. Midnight took a round in the right shoulder from the driver who was trying to fire and drive at the same time. He fired and unloaded on the driver letting the Uzi rounds hammer into his face, destroying any resemblance of an actual human face.

Delores let off 13 rounds on the passenger firing at her. They pulled into a tunnel and they pulled to a stop in the middle of it. Civilians tried to get away from them speeding off. Bullet screamed at the top of his lungs, "Why the fuck are we stopped? Are you crazy? They'll either kill us or send us upstate! What are you thinking, man?" Rivera shouted back at him. "You do not know what you are talking about! We have a helicopter on our trail. We must see where they are as they circle around. That will be our chance to escape."

Delores got out on foot and ordered them to drive to the edge of the tunnel. She shot the driver of another squad car, this one, an Asian female. As she shot her the car turned sideways and blocked the road for the other patrol cars. Delores closed her eyes just for a moment as she realized she might end up in the city morgue. _What will Pablo do if I'm dead? _She opened her eyes as quickly as she had shut them and fired at the gas tank emptying the weapon into it. The car lit up like a Christmas tree if Christmas trees happened to be on fire.

This caused a chain reaction of explosions behind them. Three police cars as well as one civilian car blew up. She felt a sharp sting of guilt at that realization. Who had been in the car she had blown up? Delores retreated running down to the end of the tunnel. She reloaded as she came to the exit and she headed up some stairs as she figured the cops would probably have eyes on the exit for cars. This took her to a civilian overpass walking bridge that overlooked the bridge itself. She saw the chopper above but it was going to the other end of the tunnel in a hurry probably looking to see the source of the deafening blast.

Delores's ears were ringing and it was all she could hear. She aimed down at the blockade of police officers, which there were five of, one with a shotgun, one carried an Assault Rifle, and three with pistols drawn waiting for that truck. Delores fired rapidly on all the cops. She dropped three of them in one sweep before taking cover behind the stairs where they had no shot even as they fired back at her. She could barely hear the gunshots due to the deafening blast from blowing up the cop car but could see the sparks as the bullets ricocheted off the stairs and the railing near it. She came back out shooting. Just one pig with a pistol and the one with the M4 variant was standing.

Delores still had ten rounds left in it. She fired on the two cops hitting both of them as she advanced toward them. She wounded one as rounds went through the vest, the man with the Rifle, was not wounded as she had fired on him from farther away. The wounded cop fired from the ground and hit Delores in the left arm and another round grazed her in the forearm. She tried to shoot the pig with the Rifle but had ran dry. Shit! _I'm dead..._She thought but the cop merely rammed her with the butt of his Rifle knocking her to the ground as he hit her in the chest and then in the head.

He had his Rifle aimed at her forehead now. "Do not move. Not one inch, bitch or I'll blow your goddamn brains all over the highway. You're pretty much fucked by the way. Nice vest you got on under there. I can see it through the holes in your shirt. So if I have to shoot you again, I know where I should aim. I won't even bother to read you your rights. You're pretty much fucked. Now here's how this is gonna happen. That chopper is gonna be circling back around here, I'm gonna take your gang rags off and you'll be all over channel 13 tonight. Frankly I like the idea of booking a female cop killer. I know they're out there and I don't think this state has enough women on death row. Now don't...oh shit!"

He aimed his Rifle up at something behind her. She saw the drug truck coming straight at them. The cop began firing on them and she rolled away with all her might to get out of the way. The cop showered the windshield but Rivera was ducked below the window going straight. He smashed into the cop and sent him flying down the street and he bounced three times over the ground as he did leaving blood stains as marks all over where he'd hit.

The truck pulled to a stop. Smiley got out of the front seat and helped Delores up. "Delores, are you okay? Come on, baby you can make it. How bad is it?" Delores felt like shit. Her hearing was starting to come back to her. "I feel like hell. I'll be all right. Give me the Rifle. I still have a job to do. Just tell that drug lord to floor it out of here before that damn chopper comes back."

They got back in, Smiley up front, covering any cops that might attack them from the front and Delores was in the back helping the Rollers. The Mule barreled down the street and two cop cars tried to come along side it and Rivera rammed into them and send one flipping and rolling onto the sidewalk. Civilians scattered to get out of the way. The other squad car was smashed and totaled. They sped up the street and took an alley. Delores could see past the street lights that the chopper had just made it over the tunnel and was going over all the side streets.

Smiley looked at him and told Rivera, "Oye, there's a Pay N Spray over in Willowfield. Let's get this fixed up!"

Rivera agreed. "Ok, amigo you got it! Then we will need to go to my lockup in Port Gate,"

As they shut the back of the mule up finlly, Delores saw that Spitz had his AK still trained on the wounded Triad. "You little punk you're gonna tell us how the fuck you found out where we were gonna be with the horse. You tell me or I'm really gonna fuck you up bad, cabron. And sabes que? I got a lot of ideas I get real creative real fast too."

The Triad growled. "I'm not telling you a fucking thing. Stupid American scumbags! All my friends will come looking for me. They kill you all. Put your head on stick. We're taking over the west coast too. You're stupid to try to...stop us."

Little Spitz squeezed his gunshot wound and he screamed but he put his hand over the guy's mouth. "We'll see about that won't we."

They got to the Pay N Spray and as they pulled in, Bullet lookes stressed. "Damn it! What the hell am I gonna tell his moms? That he helped us protect a shipment of heroin and he got murked by a pig with a Rifle? How am I supposed to explain that to her? Her son is dead in the Port Of Los Santos and she doesn't even know it yet."

OG Knock Out had a look of regret on his face, his dark eyes deep in thought and he finally said, "I tried to tell him, man. He didn't listen. He was too busy listening to Night. Look where that got him. See this is why they try to convert so many of us in the joint. To avoid a fate like that. We don't have a future in this. You see what's wrong with the hood and it aint working the way we did things. The Devil is using us to fight against each other. Red vs blue, black vs brown."

Midnight narrowed his eyes. "Shut up, Al! Damn! I aint gonna become a motherfucking Muslim, man. I love weed, drink, pussy and pork way too much to ever start bowing down like a think Allah can save black people? Yeah right..as for Dante, the homeboy knew what he was getting down with. He was down for the hood and he went out like a true rip rider for his neighborhood. As for his mama, you don't gotta tell her anything, Bullet! He's finna be on the news tonight anyway."

KO shook his head. "Not just us but all people! That is the beauty of it. We believe in the brotherhood of all men and women of all nations in the spirit of Allah! I haven't taken the Haji yet but I swear on the hood I will. Once I do, I'm outta the game for good."

Delores knew that the thing he was saying about the brotherhood of all people was also preached by Christians. It was preached but rarely if ever practiced. She did not say anything. She just listened as they spoke. "What if that was you, homie? Wouldn't you want your family to know what happened to you?"

Midnight had a somewhat dead expression for a brief moment as he said, "Man you already know what's up with that. My parents died when I was four. I been on my own ever since. So unless you got some kind of Oiuja board to contact them I doubt it would matter even in a hypothetical situation."

Bullet nodded. "You're right, homie. My fault on that one. I didn't mean anything by it. I was only saying. That was the homie ya know? Now he's gone cause of one pig."

Meanwhile across the street, a blonde middle-aged man with a wrinkled forehead and shades on dressed in leather clad as was his wife who had very large breasts protruding from her low-cut leather top, observed the truck going by. "They must have sprayed painted the truck thinking they'd get away with it.

The man looked into the camera. "It just got real people! We just caught wind of a drug deal gone bad and as a result several officders of the law are dead. The suspects were last seen in a big ol' Mule just like this one but I think they changed colors on it," He began to drive after the car as it was taking off down the street.

_"Now I know that there have been a lot of critics of me and what I, Dingo the Bounty Hunter do. What my family does as God-fearing Christians trying to bring justice. We're going to apprehend these dirt bags ourselves. See America, people have said I'm just a washed up hypocritical meth addicted biker who married a woman with large breasts. That we only catch junkies, homeless people and bail skippers . Well I am here to prove to you that is bullshit, America and we are going to catch these criminals and when we do, we will give them a chance to surrender to Christ, brah!"_

He radioed in to his son Lifter who was following in an identical SUV that was the same color. "_Lifter! You and Ian are gonna back me and your mother up so let's say a quick prayer over the walky talky all right?I'm sorry we can't hold hands while we do it right now."_

His son replied, "_Uh dad shouldn't we maybe do that next time?"_

Dingo shouted, "_Do as I say you little fucking cocksucker! God damn it you are not too old to be put over my knees! Spare the rod, spoil the child! Ian, stop fucking laughing I can hear you laughing_!"

The camera man nervously said, "_Uh, sir shouldn't you have your eyes on the road?"_

Dingo screamed, "_Did I ask you to speak you ungrateful little fucker? You just keep on rolling or you're gonna be rolling when I toss your ass from my car, brah! And make sure those liberal faggots at the network don't censor me! I mean it I don't wanna hear one god damn beep when I watch this tonight!_"

Rivera was driving at a more normal speed down the street. He got off and started to head to Port Gate again. Just then, their vehicle was hit from the back. Delores lifted up the back. "What the fuck?" Yelled Little Spitz

They sped up trying to evade the two SUV's behind them now hot on their asses. "Smiley, do we got all the cops off our asses? We need to go!

She shouted back, "No! Felipe stepped on the last bug!" The two SUV's pit maneuvered Rivera or at least were attempting to. Delores almost fell out of the truck, stumbling as the SUV rammed them. "Fuck is that who I think it is?" Delores groaned as he saw the four exiting the SUV's.

Delores and the others got out, as the truck pulled to a in hand and were shocked to see the leather clad attackers had Rifles on them. "Jesus! Are they..." Midnight started but Dakota said, "Don't worry its only..." He was cut off by the man, woman, and the two younger men yelling "Do not move! Do not fucking move!"

Just then, Smiley was fired upon by one of the sons, and hit twice in the stomach. He went down and Delores raised her gun but Dingo the bounty hunter shot her three times in the chest and once in the head. As she went down, she thought, _Am I dead? _But as she touched the blood on her head she realized it was not blood at all. It was paint. _Yellow paint!_

She got up and said, "God damn it what the fuck..." But was cut off as the woman with an ugly face and huge knockers pepper sprayed her. "Do not use the lords name in vain!" She coughed and covered her eyes with her arms and rolled in agony. "Somebody get this fucking bitch off of me!" Delores couldn't see her vision was blurry, her lips and eyes burning.

She heard seven gunshots go off and could hear the sounds of the paint guns being fired too. She could make out one dark figure hit the ground. Dingo howled, "No! Lifter! Hang in there son! I'm so sorry for what I said to you about your girlfriend over the phone! I didn't mean it! She's a lovely woman and a great American! Stay with me! Follow my voice or go to the light Lifter! Go with Christ, brah!"

Delores got up and fired, hitting the wife in the neck and then the back, knocking her down. The Mexican assassin fired her Glock five times and hit the woman in the chest, two rounds hitting her in the right breast. She fell to the ground clutching her bloody chest and cried out, "You can't kill me! I married Dingo the bounty hunter!" She aimed for her head. "Well I have a show too. Extreme makeover." The young gang banger said and fired three rounds, obliterating her face, his vision still blurry she had to squint so he couldn't see the damage.

His other son freaked out and yelled, "Dad why the hell don't we have real guns?! Why the hell are we going after drug dealers with paint ball guns?" Dingo replied, "You know better than that, Ian! Daddys got a felony on his record remember? Posession charges. They won't let me use a real gun!" Delores almost laughed and she thought to herself _Then you must not even be a real Bounty Hunter!_

"No! They killed her! Ian, look brother, they killed your mom!"

She had been lucky to hit her. Smiley fired and hit the other son, Ian four times in the back with rounds from the spare pistol he had as he tried to flee and once more in the back of the neck. Midnight and Bullet had withdrawn their own sidearms and both shot Dingo three bullets from each gun and he fell against his own SUV getting blood on the bumper. "We got the motherfucker, man! You want dibs? Finish him." Midnight said. She approached the wounded man. "You don't have to do this. Jesus loves ya brah."

Delores scowled , "I saw your show before. I hate that shit with your group prayers and had holdings and then you have a holier than thou act when you used to be a fucking member of the Devil's Apostles biker gang and a meth addict. Oh yeah, pretty fucking obvious of you to have two identical SUV's, Enit?" She aimed at his head and told him, "Oh yeah, this is for using Ozzy Osbourne's music for your theme song on your crappy show."

She fired a shot into his stomach. He cried out in pain. "So...this...is how I gotta go down...? The legendary Dingo...killed by a small time thug? D...d...don't...tell my fans...the show was...staged...mostly..."

She pulled the trigger and shot him in the eye, shattering the sunglasses.

They got back in the truck and sped off and Spitz broke the silence with a laugh. "He's with, Christ brah!" They had only briefly shaken the police and they were still in the area. They needed to get the truck to safety and lay low.

They got into the Pay N Spray and got the truck resprayed. Later that day they parted ways with the Rollers after Delores got the contact info of Midnight and KO. She already had Rivera's. They said they'd be in touch. Delores was paid an extra four grand on top of the money that each Roller had been promised. "Por que?" She had asked. "Why?"

Rivera had smiled looking like some used car salesman and said, "Considérelo una comision de intermediario para encontrar los músculos extra. Además, yo prefiero trabajar con latinos compañeros." **(Consider it a finders fee for finding the extra muscles. Besides I prefer to work with fellow Latins.)**

Delores looked at him and replied, "Gracias señor Rivera. Agradezco la opurtunidad pero yo soy indio chichimeca y Taino no un latinoamericano. Sólo los españoles lo son." **(Thank you mister Rivera. I appreciate the oppurtunity but I am Chichimeca Indian and Taino not a Latin American. Only the Spanish are.)**

This had gotten a laugh out of him that had made her highly uncomfortable. "Lo que usted diga, hermoso. Lo que tú digas! Te veré de nuevo pronto, ¿eh?" **(Whatever you say, beautiful. Whatever you say! I shall see you again soon, huh?)**

She was now just with Smiley and Little Spitz. She had decided she would give two grand of of the four to them, to the Vagos. "What do you think about the truce? With the Rollers I mean. Do you think we can trust them now? They just helped us out now."

Smiley sighed. "Tomará mucho más que eso para convencerme, Delores. Lo siento. Usted debe saber mejor que tú mismo para ser tan confiada. Tal vez Spooky está dispuesto a reconciliarse con ellos, porque él creció en la escuela secundaria con Bullet. Sin embargo, ni siquiera él sabe cosas son diferentes ahora. Yo no soy tan fácil de impresionar sólo porque las cosas se desarrolló sin problemas esta vez. ¿Quién sabe de qué hablan cuando están solos?"

**(It will take a lot more than that to convince me, Delores. I am sorry. You should know better than to be so trusting yourself. Maybe Spooky is willing to reconcile with them because he grew up in High School with Bullet. Yet even he knows things are different now. I am not so easily impressed just because things went smoothly this time. Who knows what they talk about when they are by themselves?)**

Spitz chimed in, "Yeah but hasn't enough beef gone on? I mean we gotta fight the Ballas and the Rollers? This is just gonna make relations from our side and theirs bad again if we just go back to not trusting each other and beefing over street turf. The wounds between our communities keep getting reopened, carnal. I think Delores is right on this one. Let's just give them a chance. If it doesn't work we can go back to capping them but until we do let's just try to see if we can hear each other out. I can even use my music if we have a peace meet. Music brings people together."

Smiley sighed. "You do what you have to do. Just do it without me. That's one way we do differ from the Southsiders. They have a lot more rules than we do but all the same, I'd still rather have a truce with the Matones and even squash it with El Corona varrio. Remember mi hermano, Joe? He's in the pinta and he'll hopefully get paroled soon. That's a high position of power to be in. In the pinta there is no varrios. That's street bullshit. If we can get the rival cliquas not to fight in the pen, we can make that happen out here. That's where we're different from the mayates. Every race has to stick together in the pinta but when they leave the beef starts again. It's the same for us but unlike them we actually have a power force inside that could enforce that policy on the streets."

Little Spitz didn't sound sure. "Peace with the Matones? We've been at it with them forever! Well maybe not all their varrios but most of them. La Onda is serious business. Dealing with them could be like playing with fire. You'd really rather have a peace with other varrios?"

Smiley nodded. "Si mon, carnalito. That's the way it should be. We've been at war with them for years and La Raza has been divided on the streets of L.S. because of it. It's better to unite. With every varrio. Even Trucha varrios. La Onda runs them too. We need to stop fighting each other and start fighting our enemies full-scale. The media tries to make it look like the war with the blacks is a hate crime but chale. They don't even cover it when one of them blows away one of us for the same reason we do it to them. If anybody is second class citizens, it's you and me. They call it hate crimes, I call it tensions that have always been around finally escalating to the point of no return."

Delores looked at Smiley. "I get why you want to unite with the Matones. I want that as much as you they're the oldest gang in the city but the Truchas? They've only been around for a little over twenty years. They may be allied with La Onda and are South Siders but they are not the same as them, as us. Onda only took them in because they're an LS cliqua and because they bring in a lot of feria. They have no honor, jefe! They killed my son and Carlos. I'll kill all of them."

Smiley nodded. "I know, Delores but with the Matones we need to try. I don't plan on setting up a truce meeting with MT but if La Onda wants that, we'll have no choice. I'm sure they know what's up at this point. We tried having a truce in Douglass Parque back in 2000 and that didn't work out with them. The violence started again in a few months."

He then said, "Mira, I need the two of you to shake the spot for now. I gotta have a little discussion with Rivera about something. I'll be needing you later though. Spitz, hit your studio homie. Make yourself look busy and be busy. Delores, go for a ladies night or something."

_Later that day_

She got a call later that day as she bandaged up some of her wounds while at the apartment. A round had gone through her shoulder but had luckily exited so she was okay as it had not gone through and hit anything vital. She picked the cell phone up on the fourth ring. "Hello?"

"Usted acostado malinche!" Pablo screamed. _**(You lying malinche!)**_

Delores was shocked by what he said. "Calm down, Pablito! What is wrong? Tranquile!"

Pablo screamed, "You always told me dad had just run away! Now i find this letter in the mail from him to you?! You've been keeping in touch with him?! He mentions you wrote other letters to him! How could you keep this from me? How do I know you even told me the truth about why he left the country?"

Delores tried to calm him down. "Hermano, I can explain..." She started to say but he yelled, "I don't want to hear it! Fuck you! You're a pinche vendido! I'm moving out of that apartment and staying with homies. You may like saying I'm wrong for banging but I would never do that to you!"

He hung up. Delores sighed and collapsed on the intended to go look for him but she was so worn out. She would set things right but she was so worn out...She wanted to get off the couch but her eyes were closed and she could not open them. She had been up two days straight.

_Later that night..._

Pablo ws riding in a car with both Piernas and another homie. Chewie, who was actually Spider's little brother. They were out driving toward Baldwin Colinas. Though much of the black population had declined as of the year 2000 while the brown population increased, Baldwin Colinas was still what many residents of L.S. considered the black version of Rodeo, the rich area in Los Santos, even though that was in West L.S. and this was South L.S.

South Los Santos was also considered the biggest black community west of the Mississippi even if that was no longer accurate as it was in the 90's. It was still however, despite being one of the less crime ridden areas of L.S. still, adjacent to the more ghetto areas. The residents from the ghetto and those from the richer side of the black community often distanced from each other.

The ghetto minorities were seen as stupid and lazy and violent. To the richer blacks who had houses and fancier cars and owned rather than rented, they were the blacks and the ones in the ghetto were niggers. The ones from the rich area were considered stuck up too good for their own people in the ghetto and only associated with middle to upper class blacks. and were therefore Oreos. Black on the outside and white on the inside.

Pablo did not care about any of that. The reality was, he was pretty fucked up at the moment. He was high as shit off of the spray paint he had been huffing. Smiley had earlier encouraged him and all the other homies to wait until they had found out who truly had killed Spider and to not just go after civilians or even Ballas that had nothing to do with it. Though he had told all those down to ride with Chewie this, he had not told Chewie he could not go after the Ballas. He just told him he should wait to find out who the real killers were. He would find out. He had eyes everywhere.

"Look, I know the Ballas started this shit, I know they ripped us off and they attacked some carnales when they were in theeir hood and killed them but we've spilled enough blood of our enemies without killing the actual guys that did it. Pablo, you went in their hood and killed that African guy, right? You killed some Ballas and they came back and shot Spider. I aint saying its cool cause it aint. I want to snuff the fuckers that did it just as much as you but we have to be smart. If we bring heat down on us before we even know who the right guy is, it will be too hot to go after them when we know!"

Piernas had shaken his head. "I say fuck that, homes! Let's go mop the floor with all those fucking tintos. I'm fine with finding the guys that killed Spider but in the mean time we can teach these ball less jotos what happens when they mess with Vagos, ese! You end up in a pine box! If the Ballas want shit with us, they should have taken advice from the Truchas, we don't make shit easy for our enemies."

Chewie, the spitting image of his deceased brother, was all anger right now even though like his brother, had always been a joker and a heckler and had cracked jokes along with Piernas.

Pablo's eyes were half open as they drove past the rich area into the more rough part of Baldwin. The projects. Pablo had been high for some time and since it had been a couple of hours he was less high than he had been but still pretty fucked up. When he had first got into the car he couldn't even walk. Now he could. They pulled up to the street in front of the projects. Tags from the Ballas were all over the place.

The most frequent either was repping the neighborhood or were variations of **RK **as disrespect to the Rollers. An African American teen of about eighteen was sitting with his girlriend at a bus stop. He was a member of the Ballas himself. His girl was not. She was a good girl but was into bad boys. He wore a black do rag, a black T shirt, and a gray jacket over that. There were a trio of Ballas walking up the corner away from the housing projects on their way to the store. "Last time we were here Spider was with us..." Pablo said aloud.

Chewie gritted his teeth. "I bet wherever that leva is, he aint hanging on the corner tonight. He's probably up there somewhere with some hood rat having the time of his life. While all these little faggots are on the corner slipping. Let's move on em, ese!"

Piernas nodded. "Right on carnal. He maybe laid up with some bitch but so what? No reason we shouldn't teach these dead rag fuckers what happens when you come to ou varrio shooting. We would have never come here the first time with Spider if they hadn't been messing with us. They started it. We'll finish it."

Pablo looked at the trio of Ballas who were all the way up the street. Them and the other one in the bus stop with his girl were the only ones outside tonight. "Pablo, you go first. We get every red flag we see, entiendes? You start with that one over there. See if his hyna still thinks he's cute with his face missing."

The guy was tickling his girlfriend and she was laughing hysterically. He had one hand up his shirt. "Stop! Deshawn,, not here! Baby stop it...I'm...damn you..you're gonna regret...tickling me...hahahahahahah! Damn you..." She was breathless as she laughed. The eighteen year old was grinning ear to ear. He didn't notice the Chicano male approaching, who had a brown rag over his face and another on his head. He didn't noticehim as he was standing in front of him. Nor did he notice the .380 he had in his hand. The kid did not notice until the Mexican youth had the pistol pointed in his face. Now he did notice but it was far too late. They stared into each others eyes from opposite ends of the gun just for a brief moment. The fear in the guy's eyes almost made him reconsider. _Fuck that! _He thought. _I'm no coward. Fuck this chavala. His eyes look like my dad's eyes. Come to think of it...he looks like him! _"Douglass Park gang, puto!"

Shouted Pablo before pulling the trigger.

* * *

_That's all for this chapter, muchachos/as I just took a long time and it was longer than I hoped it would be. So now, onto the details, that brawl between the Vagas and the Rollers girls was based on a fight from the movie Down For Life. When a Chicano female is in a gang like Surenos you call them Surenas because that's the feminine way to say it where as o is for men. Also, the mission Footsteps In The Snow is a reference to how last time Rivera had his cocaine stolen._

_Oh and I had Delores express some of the contempt for being called a Hispanic or Latin because that's the real feeling with many Mexicans and other so called "Latin American" Nationalities. They see themselves as and are Native like me. The Taino are the true name of the Arawak people that Colombus encountered when he landed. They are in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. The Toltecs are a Mexican tribe. I actually made Delores's ancestry be comprised of Puerto Rican and Mexican because the actress she is portrayed by, Michelle Rodriguez, is actually Puerto Rican and Dominican but is often playing a Mexican. The funny thing is, Stelm had said that the native gene is't as dominant as the black gene too._

_I can prove this to be false. See on PBS Michelle Rodriguez took a DNA test and they said that she was 75% European, 26% African, and 4 % Native American which shocked her. She even went "Ewwwwww" In regards to Euro ancestry lol. Point is, well one I don't believe those results are at all accurate because it says she has more black blood than native and even more white blood but she is somehow looking like an Indian? In any case, even if she was half black and half native if you see Rosario Dawson I'd say the gene dominates in our favor though she could pass as being fully either one._

_Not starting nothing just making a point. The thing that distinguishes the black gene when you have a kid more than anything else is probably the hair. For us, it's our skin, or cheek bones. In any case you have light skinned albinos of all ethicities that might not look like what they are. But in any case i call bullshit on the DNA tests there is no way they are accurate they tried to say that Eva Mendes and Jessica Alba are also mostly European but I can tell by looking at them they aren't. Even if we do have strong genes, 75% to 85% of European ancestry would weed that out._

_In any case, i went on Michelle Rodriguez's twitter page i was like, yo you hoped you were native you still are! DNA tests are full of shit! lol. At least in that aspect they are. I can tell at looking at Eva, Michelle and Jessica and tell they are Indigenous. Maybe white guys fear losing their role as the majority so they try to claim women of our gente, enit?_

_Now, onto the parodies, Dingo The Bounty Hunter, is obviously a parody of Dog The Bounty Hunter AKA Duane Chapman and his wife with the uni titty. Lifter is based on his son Tucker, and the reference to his wife is talking about how Dog used a racial slur toward the woman Tucker was gonna marry. I have him over use the word brother and brah due to the fact that he does do that and how he is overly extreme in his pushing of Jesus when he arrests just homeless and bail bonds skippers._

_He also does cuss that much on the show. Now I happen to know there is a difference between cussing in English and what the Hebrews thought was cursing in the bible when it was said not to curse. Yet most Christians do not and view cusssing as sinning. Just shows how sad it is when a religion is even full of people that don't know the history of their faith through the years._

_Now, as for Dreamer, the chola who defended Delores against the Rollers, she is visually inspired by Seidy Lopez who played Mousey in the movie Mi Vida Loca and Dreamer, of the same name, in Training Day. So like Smiley, she has the same name and characteristics as a Training Day character._

_Oh and as for OG Knock Out he is based on the rapper BG Knocc Out who rapped with Eazy E up until his death. He was a crip rapper and he also got in a infamous fight with Nate Dogg at a golf course. He went to prison and converted to Islam just like this character._

_As far as Little Spitz, his song Letter To Madd Dogg is a spoof of Letter To Dr. Dre by Lil G, his real life variant in which he calls out Dre for saying Fuck The Police back in the day, yet gives Rick Ross props. In this instance i had to bring in some of the Ice T shit on it too. The reference to Rochel'le she is based on Michel'le, the rapper who was dating Dr. Dre in 1992. She is actually that light skinned blonde haired girl on the cover of San Andreas which also suggests (According to the wikia page) she is somewhat based on Mariah Carey looks wise. Vanilla Latte is parody of Coco, Ice T's wife something i got in the Comedy Central Roast Of Flavor Flav._

_I added the bit with Delores and her brother and the shit with her dad because i dont want to make Delores some mary sue i wanted to make her have faults and flaws._

_Plus let's just say I have a possible spin off story involving her father and his gang days. The Brown Kings are obviously based off the Latin Kings I don't think the Spanish Lords is applicable even if it is the GTA version because there already is a gang by that name in Chicago, and though they are allies to the LK's they aren't the same. Chicago of course being the city that Carcer is based on, as mentioned earlier._

_Also, for those who don't know what huffing is, it is basically sniffing spray paint out of a can it really fucks you up I wouldn't recommend it. Maria is based on Eva Longoria, the actress from Desperate Housewives, and Rivera is based on Antonio Banderas. He's actually not a Colombian he is a Spaniard but he somehow keeps trying to play Indigenous roles and since 50% of that country is Spaniard descendants living there, I thought I would in a way, have him be something he is not in a way, while still being a Spaniard like his real life counterpart. Just the difference being, he's a Spaniard born in Colombia._

_Oh and Fish Hook is a spoof of this fish & chips place in Seattle called Ivars which is really good i wish they would branch out they did all over the state but not other states. The Fish Hook inuendo is __"when you're getting head from a chick and you have a dick piercing. just before you blow you catch the piercing onto her cheek and reel 'er in and watch her squirm and squeal. that is what i call "catch of the day" according to Urban Dictionary._

_Also the Brown Arrows is a parody of the Cleveland Browns. Brown Arrows are "The parallel brown lines left on the porcelain of a toilet bowl after a flush." Also Urban Dict._

_Also, regarding Delores and what she said about somebody of her background being president, I don't actually agree that this would make a difference even if the president was percieved as "Good" but I can't have all my views in the protagonist so even though I despise every US president past, present and current, I realize that a lot of people have to learn that lesson on their own. Which is what i have in mind for Delores. At one time I used to think presidents were a good thing. Well in the US they aren't we don't really have a democracy or fair elections but I do respect Hugo Chavez as he always challenged the states i suspect foul play on the US's gov's part in his death. They've hated him for years. Because he preaches an ideology that they fear. For a president, he wasn't that bad. Certainly better than any the US has._

_And some might say I am focusing on the negative a president does and not the positive i am not saying that at all I am just saying we should not call those who have no integrity a hero! There is no president you could name in the US i couldn't tell you dirt on. So much for a representative Democracy! And they think my idea of Democracy wouldnt work with larger populations. Lol cause this is going so great!_

_So political beliefs aside, Barry Owosu is a parody of Obama. There may have been some things i forgot to touch up on. Oh and at Stelm, you had said i had made it seem like the black gangs were in the right in the last chapter based on the shit talking in Spanish. That wasn't the intention but i guess that was how you percieved it. In any case, i showed an example of the Rollers doing the same thing back. I made Bullet the voice of logic in that conversation too. Just like often Delores usually is between herself, Pablo and Piernas._

_All right sorry it was so long an update, people. Hope you like it regardless._


	5. 187 She Wrote

_So as promised I'm right back on the story! I said I wouldn't leave ya hanging and I meant it. Maybe it is good that my last chapter was so long because it gives me enough of a head start to put a small dent in this chapter ya know? So now I will be exploring some of the deeper secrets with Delores and the rest of the Fortuna family. Also will show more gangs some of whom Delores will work with and others who she will fight with. That's kind of the interesting thing about the GT games too is that they have it be that you can't choose which gang you are gonna work for I mean I do get it it would be too much content for one game but they should make it more like Fallout in that sense in that you choose your factions. _

_Because I'm not sure how GTA goes about choosing what gang you work for and which you fight but I'm gonna choose this time! OK, nuff said. _

* * *

_Careless Vengance_

Pablo shot the kid three times in the face. Piernas ran up the street firing his pistol nine times. Most of them hit but a few missed but he only hit one of the Ballas up the street. The man staggered a few steps holding his bloody wounds almost as if trying to get away but then collapsed face down on the pavement. "You fucked up big time, motherfuckers! You wanna do a drive-by puto? You're a pinche chavala! I'll blast your ass on foot leva! Mara 18 rifa, puto!"

The Ballas angrily withdrew their pistols. "Ah hell nah, blood! These fucking donkeys wanna come in my motherfucking hood, nigga? Fuck that! Baldwin Aldea mothafuckas! You spics are going down! Just like your mama did on me."

Gabriel snorted. "A fucking mama joke? You jotos are lame! Nobody wants your HIV infested chorizo!"

Chewie had two pistols in hand and was firing both at the Ballas up the street. He hit one of them with five rounds causing the man to fall on his side in the street as the rounds hit him in his jaw, his chest and his hand. He hit the other Baller with a round in the back before the man ducked to cover behind a brand new Landstalker.

The Vagos were being shot at from all around now but luckily, the ebony gang bangers were lousy shots and a couple of them had their biscuits turned sideways like in the movies. They thought they looked cool when they shoot but really they looked retarded when they missed. Still, bullets whizzed past Pablo's ear. The fallen Ballers girlfriend screamed. "You killed him! Oh my God you killed him! Why?!"

Pablo felt bad deep down but somewhere inside him a rage fired up and manifested itself in his next actions. He was pissed. Spider had been a good homie and though he had put in plenty of work, he hadn't been the one to actually pull the trigger. Even if that often didn't matter on the street, he was still pissed about it.

The reality was, as much as he hated the Truchas, the one thing they seemed to have in common was their dislike for black gang members. Pablo didn't really have a problem with non banging Negroes but the reality was that in the streets of L.S. the line between the two was getting thinner and thinner.

The chotas tried to play it off like it wasn't that brown and black really had a problem, that this was only in the case of gang bangers but even though he was one himself, he knew this was not at all true. This was a problem and he had heard of racial conflicts breaking out in Carcer City, Liberty City, Texas, in Florida too. The local news channels would say it was just an L.S. thing and even say that in San Fierro there was no problem between black and brown since it was Northern San Andreas but he knew this to be bullshit as well.

He exploded and pistol whipped the girl. "Who the fuck asked you bitch? Cogió el día equivocado para ser un Baller! Al diablo con él y usted y su campana!" She screamed and ran down the street as blood ran down the side of her head. He took aim at her and fired off three shots. He saw her hit at least once. She cried out in pain but kept going limping down the street. He almost fired again but he stopped himself.

_What the fuck did I just do? I didn't want to harm her at all. Just the boyfriend..._he thought in horror. He prayed deep down she would make it. A bullet went right past his ear and he saw a Baller about his age wearing a black T shirt and red track pants firing at him. He carefully aimed and the gun rocked in his hand as he discharged it four times. All the rounds hit and the guy fell over right in front of the entrance to the housing projects.

A couple of gang members fired at them from the second floor of the apartment building. Piernas fired back and yelled, "Que paso! I got all fucking day, monkeys! Come get some!" Chewie went up to the gang member he had wounded and put four more rounds in his back. He walked up to the Baller and kicked him. "Look at me, motherfucker. Was it you? Did you kill mi hermano? Who did it?"

The Baller screamed in pain blood dripping from his mouth but he gritted his teeth. "Fuck you...I aint telling you shit...you Bar Ho's can go head kill me. I promise it's gonna come back on yo ass," He reached for his fallen gun but Chewie kicked it out of each.

He kicked the man in the ribs and yelled, "I'm not playing around here, you ugly fucking chango! You better tell me what I want to know or I gonna rip your balls off and stuff them down your throat! That's what I never could stand about you fools. You're always so fucking loud! I don't know who is more loud, you or your women! Never know when to shut the fuck up," He leaned down and pistol whipped him knocking a tooth loose. "Regarding my own familia, Carne y la sangre this is not the time to shut up. I'd tell me if I was you, homes."

He pressed the barrel toward the black man's crotch. The guy was maybe about twenty three years old. He had a short haircut and he had a tattoo on his neck that said **B.A.B** for Baldwin Aldea Ballas. Another tattoo had a picture of a cross on it that said **Jesus forgives I don't. **Plus another tattoo that said no mercy which was on the side of his neck. "Say adios to your chorizo then, fucker. You probably won't survive but if you do that'd be worse than dying."

The guy begged, "Aight hold up man, wait ok? Damn! I know who it was. Motherfucker named Young Blood. Nigga from the hood old school Baller...he used to bang even back before 92. Him and this little nigga Terrance...they were the ones rolling over there. Actually...I don't know if Young Blood was there but he did give the go ahead...now let me go, man! Just leave me alone so the ambulance can come scoop me up!"

Chewie shook his head. "Gracias for the information, homes. But you'll be needing a coroner mot an ambulance shit for brains," The guy protested in fear. "Hold on, man! You said you'd let me go!" Chewie grinned a sadistic grin. "I never said that, Ese. You said that. I said if you didn't tell me I was gonna blow your balls off. You told me but I never said nada about letting you live. No mercy. That's even what your tattoo says, right? Really I'd be doing you a favor. You got a loose tongue in that head of yours. When your homies find out what you told me they're gonna cut it out. At least here you can die with dignity and honor. Or you can whine like a bitch. Your choice but this is happening."

The guy was almost crying practically in tears. "Come on, man I'm too young to die!" Chewie snickered. "No such thing as too young, Tinto. This is a cold world. But maybe we can work something out after all?" The guy sniffed, holding his back wounds with one hand coating his fingers in blood. "Any...anything. Just tell me and I'll do it."

Chewie told him, "I'm gonna take the heads of both Young Blood, and Terrance and whatever faggot that was that really was with him in the car. I just need you to get a message to them. Let them know I'm coming for them."

The man seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "What message? What you want me to say?" Chewie replied, "Tell them I said..." He fired a shot into the man's stomach and his mouth dropped open so he put another shot in his gaping mouth. "That."

Piernas had wounded one of two Ballas upstairs. Chewie fired at two people who he thought was trying to shoot him. "What the fuck are you looking at?!" He demanded. They took cover screaming in terror. Pablo yelled, "Chill the fuck out, ese! They're just scared they don't bang!"

Chewie screamed back, "Who gives a fuck, ese? Better they're scared than trying to kill us! Let's go I got what we need!"

They could hear sirens far away but knew they wouldn't be far away for long. "That's our cue, let's go! Vamos!"

_The Other Side Of The Barrel _

It had been a few hours since the Vagos had come through shooting up the spot. Young Blood was sitting with a couple of homies in an apartment in the hood. He was an OG. Truth be told, if niggas in the hood knew what he was about in prison, he could have been triple OG. OG was respectable enough though and had more than a couple partners in the hood that was on his level. Either way, he got respect all across the board. He was a light skinned black man with brown skin and beady eyes. He wore a red do-rag on the back of his head even though he remembered the days when it was just bandannas.

He was thirty seven years old and he had seen the worst of the gang years. He'd buried about a hundred of his friends in his life. By far, the worst was when he lost his home boy Baby Bear to the Rollers in 1994 which back then was known as the OGF. Those bitch ass niggas had one motherfucker who back then wore green, acting like he was trying to buy a rock off of him but instead shot him and took his money.

The biggest frustration of it all was that that Baby Bear's older brother was in prison and he had been released just after his death but before he had been and before his baby brother had been killed, he consulted his best friend, Young Blood to always watch his back. This he had failed to do when Baby Bear had been blasted and the one other Baller who had been with him at the time, who he meant to get at about it as to who had done it, got shot himself two days later. Luckily he had gotten to talk to him in the hospital before he died of his injuries so he knew what the guy looked like. Young Blood had planned on getting the fools who did it at the time but he had been concerned with getting the exact guy who did it.

When Baby Bear's brother got out of jail on parole, he knew for a fact that he had ridden on a OGF hood that had been recently taken back in Willowfield. They ended up shooting two Groves plus the son of one of them who they accidentally hit with a stray round. Neither gang member had been the one they wanted. So more violence followed tit for tat. The guy that had shot his best friend, his road dog for life, had gotten away with it and had never been murked himself or even booked for the murder.

He was thirty seven years old and he had seen the worst of the gang years. He'd buried about a hundred of his friends in his life. By far, the worst was when he lost his home boy Little Bear to the Rollers in 1994 which back then was known as the OGF.

He heard a knock at the door. His other homie, Red Dog, was in there with him, the same one who had lost his own son to rival gangs as well as losing a little nigga from the hood Byron that he cared for to the punk ass Vagos. "Hold up, nigga that could be five o. You shouldn't answer the door, man!"

Red Dog too, like Young Blood, was an OG. More so actually. He was another close homie to him. "We got weed in this motherfucker, man!" He whispered. "I've already got too much of a record, Blood. Don't get the door. I bet you that's five o. Or it could be those Mexicans that came through here earlier!"

YB had his Colt Python with him as he went to the door and pressed the barrel to the door. "Who is it?" He demanded. He turned back to Red Dog. "I gotta get a peep hole installed in this piece, man. I aint going out cheap. Not after today," The answer came from outside. "It's Rob and T, bro, open up! Come on, dawg don't leave a brother out here like this!"

He opened the door and lowered the gun. They came inside and Terrance, a dark skinned black man of about nineteen, who had a mostly shaved head and who wore a red San Fierro 69ers football jersey as well as a red head band and blue baggy jeans grinned and slapped dap with YB. "What's popping, cuddy? What's good wit ya bro?"

Robert, the other one, was another Baller from the hood. He was best friends with Byron who had been killed and was wounded himself in the shootout. Red Dog greeted them each with dap and a quick hug. "How's the shoulder, Robert? Still giving you trouble?"

Robert grinned and said, "It still hurts but the doc gave me some good pain killers so it aint no thang. I'll be ready to play football with the homies pretty soon so I aint tripping," They did not speak of Byron. It was the elephant in the room. Terrance looked nervous when he saw the gun in Young Blood's hand. "Damn player what's the dealy? Why you gotta greet us with artillery and shit like we're Rollers?" YB had a scowl on his face. "What's the rush that you had to come in here, little man? You knocked like you were the police."

Robert stepped up to explain. "The one time is shaking people down on the block, man! Ever since the Ese's came through here shooting they're trying to book as many people as they can and hold them overnight. I think they're trying to do that so we don't hit them back. Me and T barely got outta there. They were just scooping up anybody that they had in their gang books and booking em for nothing! Nothing at all! You believe that?"

YB sneered. "Yeah, they'll try to. They aint finna stop what's coming back on those donkeys. The pigs aint stopping shit even if they place them all in protective custody. We're gonna serve those bitches but check it out, we gotta do something different this time you feel me? I remember how South Central used to be. Back in the days when the Rollers still went by OGF. When it was them we were busy fucking up. Now shit has changed. We used to run things in this city. As long as they were set tripping they were unorganized and high off base, we were the head niggas in charge!"

Red Dog took a hit off the joint he was working on. "Dig! Preach it bro!" He too, remembered those days. He had grown up in them with Young Blood. "Then the turn around happened and you know what's up. The Families was back in the game and they're suddenly Rollers now cause one nigga got rich on a come up. Believe me I used to wanna punch that fucker's clock in. He was like their poster boy who made it. So I wanted to be the one that did him in. I've hated the Rollers forever but now...we gotta do shit different," He had considered the possibility of a truce between the Ballas and the Rollers.

He was not ready to voice it yet to the little homies but the big homies who had seen a lot of the reckless violence were on board with it. The youngsters on the other hands had the mentality of "Fuck a peace treaty it's on" and even Young Blood himself had not even begun to consider it until recently. In 2007. After 13 years of intense warfare with the same gang that had merely changed names up after a few years of their most famous member being rich. He had killed so many Rollers long after giving up the possibility of ever finding the guy that shot Baby Bear.

For all he knew the guy was probably dead himself. Terrance didn't seem okay with the idea. "Hold on, bro. What you tryna say? How you gotta peace treat with a nigga that killed your homies? Even if we did have shit in common with the Roaches and their nasty flu rags, and even if there was a solid G from that side he could still be partnas with any of the number of those bitches still out there that faded my road dogs. I aint with that shit. At all."

Red Dog nodded. "You know me, B. It's RK all motherfucking day. I aint got no love for the Roaches. Ever since they sot my son, I aint never gonna be cool with them. I don't care if I go to jail, the grave or even hell. All i give a fuck about is my dawgs out here. If you aint red, then you dead! Period!"

Robert looked at Young Blood with a serious expression which for him was rare as he was usually a joker but after seeing his best friend, Young Blood feared that side of Robert may have died along with the little homie. "What I'm saying is, as much as I hate those little marks just the same as you, we may need to try to squash it anyway! While we beef among ourselves the Ese's are taking over! Shit, you know Ganton, Jefferson, Idlewood, all of South Central, used to be black folks around. You'd see chicken and waffle joints. Now all you see is fucking taco trucks on the corner! Niggas used to sell bootleg DVD's and shit at swap meets. Now you got motherfuckers slinging flowers and oranges. Aint that a bitch?"

Robert nodded at what he was saying. "I'm with you on that one, homie. Fuck these wetbacks! We may need to go ahead and squash it with the Roaches after all even if it means swallowing our pride or else they finna take over our neighborhood like they did to other ones. Like that Roach hood Grove Street. You know what happened to that shit ever since those donkeys started coming in? Now that hood is entirely taken up by a Mexican gang! Fucking Matones, blood! Them tacos made it so even they don't have a hood! The Roaches...I mean...Rollers are feeling the pressure too. I hear over in Idlewood homie, this bad bitch from that side of town said she looked out the window and saw some of their hood rats putting a beat down on some Roller girls. We can't let those ho's disrespect our sisters like that! Even if they do wear blue they're still black, right?"

Terrance crossed his arms. "Say what, fool? The fuck were you doing in a Rollers hood? We're just talking at this point. It's nothing bigger than a discussion don't go carrying on trying to get us in deeper shit cause you over there fucking their hood rats. You know we hate the 60's gang too. Who you think you are? What are you too good for the honeys from our hood? They got ass too, Rob so what you saying?"

Robert grinned just slightly. "Hey, it doesn't matter. I aint cool with Rollers but that doesn't mean I can't get my knob polished by their bitches! Pussy is pussy! Point is, I'm with you, B. Let's call up some of these cats and see what it is. Cause at this point they aint our worst enemies no more. This isn't the 90's."

Red Dog was finished with the bud but he leaned back and said, "Hey, I appreciate little homies showing concern for our Nubian sisters and all but this is the oldest beef we've had. Even with the Mexicans they maybe deep right now but they haven't been beefing as long as the Rollers have. Before 92' they pretty much ignored us and we ignored them. Well aside from those busters out in El Corona that is. Look I was around back in the day too, Rob. Young Blood aint the only OG. I happen to know that same cat you're talking about, Mister High Roller up in the hood, before he ever lost his hood and his influence and his life, tried his hardest to wipe us out completely. Real talk. It was seventeen years ago but still it seems like yesterday to me. Never saw so many people shot in so little time."

Young Blood sighed. "You're all missing the point. We got a bigger enemy now. The Mexicans and the five 0! They're the real ones trying to do us in! They're doing us in almost as much as we were doing ourselves in and at that rate things aren't looking good but we can stop killing each other and unite against the spics. We might all go out in body bags but at least we go down shooting. We gotta start talking to the people that don't bang too. Gangs used to protect their hood. Instead of the Panthers now we got Rollers and Ballers. We gotta change with the times. We can stand together or fall apart. You feel me?"

Red Dog grinned at Terrance. "Yeah, well I happen to know one thing. Terrance I know how you hit the Vagos up in their own hood. That was gangsta, man! Where's your boy at now? The youngster rolling with you that night? Damn, man I been hating that fool Spider for a long time ever since this shit started. I hate all Matones but I got extra static with the Douglass Park Vagos in particular. Though their set in Idlewood been giving us trouble too. Where's he at? That motherfucker was cool!"

Terrance's expression went to that of a stressed look. "That's what we came to tell you. Like we said, one time is out there scooping up our boys off the street trying to see if they can scare anybody into talking. They got Lil Rock, man. He wasn't even flying colors at all not even low key repping for the hood but they still booked him. He was with me that night, bro! Plus his girl. She was the one driving."

Young Blood stood up.. He looked around the room and then at him and replied, "Look, don't even worry about it, all right? They don't know shit. They think they know what's up but they don't. Just hang tight and I know Rock is gonna maintain. If they're just trying their usual bullshit to scare the homies into talking then he knows what to do. If they really knew he was in the car that night, it wouldn't be others getting picked up with him. You know what we gotta do? You all gotta start getting back in school. Terrance, you just barely passed High School. You should hit up the college even if its a community college. We beat the pigs by outsmarting them."

He then turned to Robert. "What about you? You don't got a High School diploma or your GED! That's what they want, the cops want us to be stupid but armed. That way they can keep throwing us inside. I may have been down for my hood but I still graduated. Aint nothing better than educating yourself. Feed your brain. Learn all your rights so the next time the pigs try to question you on the street you know what to do! If you all knew your rights, you wouldn't even get in half the trouble."

_Laughter Is The Best Medicine_

Delores was driving through East Los Satos, no longer worried about getting caught by a rival. She felt like shit. Pablo knew what ws really going on with her father. Their father. While he had been gone, in a way she had been like his mother since his father had to leave the country shortly after the death of their mother. She had only recently found out that their mother had been given a 'Hot Shot' by some people after them. Her father had shot the person and a cop too and had to flee the country. This had been a few years ago. When she was still eighteen. She had done the best she could to make sure he always went to school and make sure he had something to eat.

He had no problem going to school but he was still always getting suspended when he did. He was constantly getting into fist fights with other youth from the MT's. Since they shared the same hood and went to the same school, there was always constant danger. Even before he had been jumped in, he had been hanging around the Vagos because Delores was a chola and so was her man at the time. Plus most of their homies went there. Still, the sad thing was that a lot of the people he had at one time gone to school with in the neighborhood was now sworn enemies to him.

Because he was a Vago and they were Truchas. That was the way it was in the hood. She had wished she could have set a better example but there was just no way he could have stayed out of it. She promised then and there that if she got a chance to, she would explain to him why she had lied about it. She didn't want him knowing his father had been a gang banger. For Pablo, that would be all the justification he would need. Papi had managed to keep that part of their past hidden from him and from her too for a while but then she learned too.

One thing Pablo did not know, was that while mama had been alive and he was out getting ice cream with her, sometimes their father would take her to a shooting range. Though she was a minor at the time, she had been given her first gun by him. He had taught her how to shoot himself. He figured that everything he would have taught her were she a boy, he would teach her anyway. "A girl should know everything a boy should."

He had also warned her about dating guys in gangs. He had told her that he used to be a womanizer and in his own words, "A cheating piece of shit. Before I meet your mother," He was not trying, even from outside of the US, to do the best he could to be there for his daughter as he had her whole life. He had often used women just for sex in his banging days. He was now trying to reverse that and teach his daughter to have self respect, something many of the kind of girls he used to hook up with did not have. He also said, "Don't go out with a guy anything like me! Stay away from guys like that. Never let them treat you the way I treated women when I was your age."

She got a cell phone call that distracted her from her depressing thoughts of her falling apart family. "Hello?" It was Peaches. "Oye Delores! What are you up to right now? You wanna come hang out with me? Maybe go see a comedy show? Come on, honey...you could use a good laugh. It's the best way to forget your troubles!"

Delores thought about it. Though she had not originally liked Peaches when they had first met, she did now and she was a down homegirl. The hermana she never had. _Besides, when is the last time you had fun? With Carlos. You gotta move on and quit being a leva. Gotta live it up. The bad times should never outweigh the good! _ "I'll be there. Where do you want me to pick you up at? I could go see a show. It's been a while since we've gotten to hang out."

Peaches sounded delighted. "Horale! I'm over on Whittier, Esa! Pick me up within the hour!" Delores smiled. Even her good moods were contagious. "OK. See you soon."

She drove out there to pick the homegirl up. Whittier was one of the busiest streets in East Los Santos and one of the most well known hoods in the area. She put the radio on to Radio X and the song Bullet In The Head by Rage Against The Machines played. She enjoyed the music, though she did not typically like most metal, RATM was always all right in her book. Zach de la Rocha was after all, part of La Raza and she liked how they mixed metal with rap. However right in the middle of the song, they cut in for a weazel news update.

_"This is Jana Summers at Weazel News. Police are on the lookout for the suspets in a shooting at the Port Of Los Santos. Automatic gunfire shattered the otherwise peaceful afternoon as hard working citizens of the Ocean Docks area were terrified by the sudden chaos ensuing in the area. The L.S.P.D. are still finding bodies in the water that are believed to have been victims of the shooting and possibly part of the murders themselves. The authrities have not yet released the identity of the dead men to the public but have made an official statement that the shooting was believed to be a part of a botched drug deal, most of which involved members of a Chinese Triad gang from San Fierro, and Colombian nationals involved in a drug cartel involved in multi national drug distribution. Also involved in the shooting, a body of a young inner city youth Dante Brown, a 20 year old youth from Ganton, found shot in the head. The police officer who killed Brown was also killed while the other suspects shot their way through the officers attempting to apprehend them. The details of the murder scene is blurry but what we do know is that all those who survived it are now prime suspects. There was believed to have been at least three Hispanic males and one female as well as at least two black males. All of the suspects are at large."_

As she listened to the news broadcast, some pig was being interviewed on the shooting. _God damn it they interrupted RATM for this shit? Well they know what we are but they don't know who we are. At least there is that..._ The cop on the radio said what a tragedy it was when a young man has to die because he chose the life of a criminal and the man spoke of how just before Dante had been killed, he gunned down a member of the Coast Guards, a man who was a father of a baby on the way and had a wife as well that was now a widow. She swallowed uncomfortably as she remembered that very moment. _"The people of Ocean Docks are hard working decent citizens. They don't stea, they don't deal drugs. These criminals do not represent the good people of this community. These are just bad eggs if you ask me. We don't condone murderers."_

_Except if the state permits it you mean. _Delores thought bitterly at the double standard of how it was wrong to murder somebody as a civilian but if you had a uniform and a badge on it was suddenly heroic. She remembered one thing Papi had taught her about how America was based on his own life growing up in the mean streets of Onion City. "If you kill one person for whatever reason, it's murder. If you kill a thousand for the Army, it's 'Foreign Policy' and they give you a medal for it."

He had after all, heard of other people from his neighborhood, his barrio, having just returned from the killing fields of Vietnam when he was just ten years old. There had been a lot of anti war protests those few years in his early childhood that he recalled and he remembered how a lot of the older generation of Korean veterans said that the former veterans that now protested the war, were being unpatriotic and that they "Had nothing to complain about" and to the protestors they would say of America, "Love It Or Leave It."

It left little room for voices of dissent, from fourth world people like they were. The reporter then said,_ "This Is Jana Summers, Weazel News. Back to you in the studio, Jean."_

For whatever reason they were choosing to let that right wing douche bag Jean Tammany speak instead of just going back to the music. "_You see, this is what happens! The liberals try to increase gun control and now only the police and criminals have guns! I'm telling you these inner city youth are terrorists and probably sympathize with Al Quieda! This is why we should start euthenizing minorities in the ghetto! They think I am just making things up but when the next 9/11 happens I am telling you all these urban poor welfare leeches will be the ones helping the Muslims out!"_

They then had to cut to a commercial break. "Fucking puto. Somebody should put a bullet in that fucking joker," She muttered aloud and thought, _and then they should cut it out of him cause he aint really worth even a bullet. _

She finally pulled up to where Peaches was and her homegirl got in the car. "Hola, Delly! Como esta? You're looking good today! New clothes?" Delores nodded. "Si mon. Yeah, i did a little shopping. Figured I needed a little something for my efforts. Not much, bella how are you? I should be asking you that since you usually got something going on. What's the haps in the barrio?"

Peaches rolled her eyes. "Same old drama. Piernas is a fucking idiota. Out there shooting anybody that isn't from our varrio. He's a fucking asshole. I mean he's a homeboy and a good person to have your back but I swear he can be really stupid. Puro tonto. You know he took Pablo out shooting in Spider's name? To top it off he's a fucking paint sniffer, Esa. If i were you, I'd keep Pablito away from him."

Delores sighed. "Mira you know I tried but he has a mind of his own and it doesn't matter if I smack him like mami used to, it only hypes him up to go out and start some shit in the street. I mean I know that we didn't really start anything with the Ballas they started with us they used to be business associateas but you know what I meant. Spider would probably still be alive if it weren't for that hit they did in Baldwin Aldea. For a while things were quiet on both sides at least as far as our hoods went but then they had to go back shooting. You know that's the one thing Pablo won't talk about when I asked him? He didn't give a fuck about killing the Ballers and he probably would have shot a guy juni's age if they were one but he won't even talk about accidentally killing that guy from Africa."

Peaches agreed. "Yeah, i know it just goes on and on. I'm sure they're pissed about that guy dying too. You know how it is. He may not have been a Baller but he was still from their neighborhood," Peaches was right in what she said.

Though in most neighborhoods gangs were not the entire community, if somebody from a certain hood got gunned down accidentally by a rival, that gang from that hood had to go out and get revenge in that persons honor for being shot over something they weren't a part of.

The double standard of this however, was one Delores did not like at all. If you were on the shooting end of the gun, and hit a bystander from a rival hood, it was thought to be no big deal by many. The logic of it was, better they die today, than join the gang in their hood tomorrow and come after us another day. It was a ruthless way but it was a norm in the unwritten code of the streets.

Peaches lightened up by saying, "Well, in any case even as much of a dick as he can be, in some ways he's all right. He's always cool to Pablo at least. With me, it depends what mood he's in. Plus his soft spot for his abuela. No matter how rotten and hardcore he is on the streets, he's always a sucker for being grandmas boy. He'll always be her mijo."

Delores laughed at that. "Yeah even after all these years of living in the barrio and knowing her grandson has been to jail many times, she still thinks he's an angel. She just doesn't know what he's up to when he aint around her! Still, at least he has the common sense to at least act decent around her."

They got to the place they were going to. A comedy club called the Giggle Pit on Fairview avenue. They had to both pay $36 for tickets. They were going to see a comedy show. Peaches seemed excited about it. "This guy has always been funny. Even the oldest people in mi familia love him," She remarked as they paid for the tickets and headed inside. They found a booth near the middle of the crowded room.

_Coming to you live at the Giggle Pits, give him a warm welcome, George Lopez!"_

As the comedian entered the room, his theme song Low Rider by War played. "_What's up Los Santos? How is everybody tonight? I'm feeling good. All the Latinos in here, make some noise!"_ A large part of the crowd, at least half of it, did just that. "_Listen to me, America, everything you touch, we touch first. That's why we're here. Savannah's got their slogan This Is Our Country. Well its not your country anymore! You know who's country it is? Guess!"_ Suddenly Mariachi music began playing.

This got both laughter and applause from the audience. "_That music is the heart and blood of the Mexican people. When i was little I used to here that and think it was house cleaning music. i hear it and go 'i gotta go clean, son of a bitch!' But once you're drunk that shits gets to to you. Aye! Aye!"_ He imitated wiping tears away. "_White people don't have that shit! What do they have? 'You spin me right round baby right round!"_ He imitated bad dancing and in a valley girl imitation said, "_OMG that's my song!"_ This got major laughter from the audience. "_Mas puto! Mexicans think anything done correctly is gay. And not gay but Mas Puto which is really gay! Mas puto square. Like if you're a guy by yourself walking a dog on a leash, Mas puto!"_

He imitated the man walking away with his dog on a leash in a feminine way. "_Come on biscuit, he doesn't understand!"_ Delores and Peaches were both rolling at that one. "_And if you're carrying a plastic bag to pick up your dog's shit, Mas puto!"_ He imitated a man scooping it up. "_Do you know what the the dog is thinking? 'Motherfucker i didn't know you wanted it I would have shit at the house! There's some shit under the bed you haven't found! If you're collecting, vato I'll help you out!_'" He then went on to talk about other things that were gay. "_You could not look gayer, I don't know if Star Clux did it by design but if you hold a Star Clux tray, you cannot look cool! Its little and you gotta hold it up here."_He imitated a man holding a tray up to his chest. He also imitated them walking while holding it_. "Mas puto_!"

The crowd was roaring at his physical imitation. "_You might as well be walking around with a dick in your mouth. And if you got a blue tooth on while you're doing that, you might as well take another dick and put it in your ass_!" This got people in the audience, both drunk and sober laughing harder. "_Look at the guy right there!"_ He pointed out, imitating a man in the audience ripping off his blue tooth.

"_We're not built that way. We're different people_ ," He explained. "_Negativity is what drives the culture. How many times have you thought about going to a party and ended up not going then the next morning hear, hey you shoulda went vato, three people got shot! Like, fuck i had a feeling somebody was gonna get shot and i didn't believe it_!"

This particularly had Delores laughing cause he could relate in some fucked up way but unlike a lot of the people she wasn't drunk yet she was laughing harder than she had in a long time. "_Nowadays its all about self esteem. So when you have kids and you want them to play in organized sports you have to only yell out encouraging things. to promote self esteem...MAS PUTO! Now you see parents yelling, 'Its okay Cameron you'll still get a trophy, you're fantastic! We are your support system."_

George continued, "_What did our parents yell at us when they came to see us? 'Open your fuckin eyes! Get it! Get it! Stupid son of a bitch you can't catch. You should have told me a hundred dollars ago_!" He imitated a Chicana mother running after them saying, "_Hold my purse I'm gonna go get em. Oh now you run fast huh son of a bitch_!"

George walked back and forth on the stage as many comedians do. "_Kids today would not last one motherfucking day in our shoes! Allowance? What the fuck is that? I could never go up to my grandma and ask her for allowance! Like, Abuela, can i have allowance? She'd be all, Mira cabron! I allow you to live!" He did further imitations of his grand mother. "You want a snow cone? You don't buy it. Go to the freezer, get a fork and scrape the ice. Then you get some Sprunk and put it on it. Mira, Its the same thing!"_

This got applause and laughter. "_You've been a great audience, I'm George Lopez_."

As they got out of the club Peaches laughed saying, "He's funny cause he tells it like it is!" They got back in the ride and drove through downtown. As they got to a red light they saw Pacman, a member of the L.S.P.D. gang unit, abusing two members of the Truchas. The gang member that was talking to him was saying he did not consent to a search and that he knew his rights. The cop attacked him kicking him in the back of the head.

"Shut up! You talk again I'm gonna stomp the fucking Mexican piss outta you, homeboy! You feel me?!" He yelled mocking gangster speech but in reality was that of a black gang banger not Brown. The cop was actually named Danny Mackenzie. He was a white male in his mid to late twenties and he had slicked back dark blonde hair and he wore sunglasses like a lot of pigs did. His partner, an older and shorter white guy named Officer Hodges, who was balding, stopped him saying, "Calm down, kid! You're all fired up!"

Delores whispered in a panic to Peaches, "This car is stolen, Esa! What the fuck are we gonna do? Those two gabachos know me! What if they run the plates?" Peaches calmly said,"Just look straight ahead, focus on the traffic light and don't look at them."

One of the Truchas looked at Delores as he was being cuffed by the older cop. He seemed to recognize her. In truth he was from the same hood as he but opposite gangs. Their two cliquas in particular had clashed for years over Douglass Park. "What are you looking at, creep? Those two broads in the car wouldn't want anything to do with a gang banging loser like you. We found two rocks on your friend here and a dime bag of coke in the glove compartment. You're fucked."

Delores breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't recognized either of them but the gang member had. The one being cuffed said, "I want to see a lawyer! We didn't give consent to search the vehicle!" Pacman grabbed him by the hair and said, "You'll get your lawyer you sack of shit but a lawyer aint gonna get you outta this one, homes. That's a felony."

Delores almost wished she could help but the fact was they were rivals. Finally the light turned green and she got out of there. Delores breathed a sigh of relief. "That was too close. I think one of them recognized me. He was mad dogging me pretty fierce. Even for a couple of chavalas, i feel bad for those two. Pacman is such a fucking punk."

Peaches nodded. "I know he thinks he's hot shit too. That's one thing we got in common with our enemies. We all hate Pacman. He's worse than Tenpenny ever was and I never even encountered him I just heard about him from older vatos but he couldn't have been worse than Pacman. No way."

Delores reminded her, "What about his brother? Alonzo?" This made Peaches cringe as she remembered and she said, "Yeah he's trying really hard to fill in his brothers shoes. He is worse than him. Tenpenny just used to mess with the Ballas and the OGF but he mostly knew better than to come around our neighborhood. Alonzo is fucking with everybody."

Delores remarked, "Yeah well after all that just happened I think I need a drink. You game for that?" Peaches rolled her eyes. "You know Im always down homie. Who do you think you're talking to?"

They pulled up to a night club as they got south of downtown. The Alahambra. It was a dance club but also had a bar. They went inside.

_Later..._

The two female bangers staggered out of the club drunk and Delores could not even see straight. She was not even sure if she should stay where she was, hail a ab, which would only be possible if one was in the area, or get in the car and risk wheeling it out of there. She saw a cab riving by and attempted to whistle but ended up falling over. Peaches laughed even as she fell over. "Girl...you...you are fucked up...right now...you better let me drive...gimme the keys, Delores. You're drunk..."

Delores blurted out, "How the hell...am i gonna...do that? The fuckin...shit...is hot wired!" Peaches snickered sounding almost demonic. "Then pass the wires! You're gonna...get us in an accident or something..."

Delores snorted in a very non feminine way and wished she hadn't. "You're...just as...drunk...besides...I can't pass the wire...I seem to have lost them...let me...let me get up...when the world stops spinning...and I'll find the wire keys..."

Peaches got to her feet and so did she. They got back in the car and Delores tried to get it restarted again. She did and began to drive off but as she did she hit an SUV and set off the alarm. "Why is that fat black lady screaming at me? She's got a really awful voice!" Whined Peaches. Delores, still tipsy replied, "That's...that's a Landstalker, pendeja! Open your eyes!"

Peaches then answered, "Chale! Now i feel like throwing up!" Delores said, "Shut up...it'll pass..." After a while they began to sober up. Finall, they were steady enough to drive straight. Luckily no police had caught them. They weren't sober completely but they were decent enough that they could at least drive straight. "Oye chica que quiere conseguir algo de comer? We need to eat something. It'll lighten the buzz a bit if we do."

**(Hey girl you wanna get something to eat?) **

Peaches nodded. "Yeah, I could eat. I always used to get so smashed because I wouldn't eat so maybe it will have the opposite effect. Let's do that."

They headed to the Dairy Swirl on Whittier Boulevard in East Los Santos. She hadn't been there in a long time. There were only eight in the whole city and they were pretty spread out. "So I hear you and Spooky are an item now. Is that true? If so congratulations. He's a good guy. I mean as good a guy as there is in the barrio."

Peaches put on some lipstick in the mirror. "Yeah we've been seeing each other. But what's that supposed to mean? 'As good a guy as there is in the barrio'? Do you think somehow that the guys out in Rodeo are better? Maybe richer and whiter but that's about it. I've sold yayo to people up there. The men are usually either cheating on their wives, impotent, or in the closet and the women are either popping pills, or cheating on their husband. They think they're better than us but they just show the feria doesn't really buy happiness."

Delores sighed. "You know what I mean. The guys like Piernas and Chewie. They just live for trouble. At least Spooky has a job on the side of hustling que no? See Piernas and Chewie give Vago it's literal meaning because they don't do shit! That was one thing we used to be able to brag about in our neighborhoods that nobody else could was that at least the Chicano gangs still had jobs on the side. Except Vagos nowadays take the meaning literally! The Matones at least still do have jobs. Looks a lot better to the IRS."

This was true. The IRS found it harder to spot a drug dealer when they had actual income. Even if it was a minimum wage job, and they had more money than they should it could just as easily mean they save money up. It made a lot more sense than dropping into a car dealership with a bag full of money and buying an Infernus when you had no job. That made it easier for the pigs to find out what you were up to. The Matones had figured this out a long time ago.

Peaches shrugged. "Well at least Little Spitz is employed in a way. He's a rapper even if he aint making much feria. If it was me in his shoes I wouldn't care about that much anyway but for him it's probably a different story. He maybe a Vago rapper but still a rapper. Still, at least he's doing more with his life than just always being on the corner. I mean the barrio is cool but expanding your horizons is a good thing too. Spitz doesn't gotta make as much as most rappers if he even just makes 100 grand a year he could travel the world."

Delores thought about that. "Yeah that might be a good idea. I know I'd like to see what else is out there. Mexico, Israel, Egypt, Peru, Brazil."

Peaches turned to her saying, "I thought you lived in Mexico for a while con tu familia?" Delores nodded. "I did but that wasn't exactly the same. I mean the beaches were beautiful but we lived in the slums of Mexico City. I think Pablo was too young to remember. He was nine when we left so he should have remembered but he never talked about it so maybe he forgot. That's where we were first before we came up to Douglass Parque. Back then it was still called Glen Park though. We lived in Tijuana too but it was the same thing. Crime, the ghetto same as here. Just a lot more intense."

Delores explained, "I'd rather see some of the ancient Aztec sites. The historical places. I did get to see some of that in Mexico City but for the most part we were too poor. Mi padre and mama were starting fresh but not much money. Tijuana on the other hand...that was just a place for lost souls. Seemed like everybody who lived there was trying to get out. Come to think of it I spent the first part of my life in Mexico."

Peaches nodded taking in what she had said. "The sky is the limit, Delly. I know L.S. will always be home to me but one day I wanna travel to every country in the world if I get the chance. There's too much to see. Come to think of it, you know you and I have lived this long in Los Santos and haven't even visited the Vivewood sign yet? That's a shame. You know you're still young. I know you're the big sister and worry about Pablo but you should think of what you want to do too."

Delores laughed. "Now that is something I haven't thought about in a long time. I guess i forgot. I was so sure I was just gonna be a mother I was thinking about that. I was gonna get a job of course but just to pay the bills and put food on the table. Carlos too. We were gonna leave it all behind."

She felt a sting of sadness at that thought of the death of her child and the father of the child. She decided that she had no issues with a truce between the Truchas and the 18th street Vagos. She wasn't Piernas or Spooky. She wasn't gonna generalize everybody in that gang. _But the only way I'll ever be okay with doing that is if I get to kill the son of a bitch who murdered them. Then, and only then will that ever be an option. _

She added, "I guess even before I was pregnant I never really thought about what it was I wanted to do. I think I wanted to paint to be honest with you. Maybe something like that. I know in America that isn't a respected profession so much anymore since it's the 21st century but I think I draw pretty well."

She smiled at the thought of it. "I might even want to do animated shows or something. I'd be more suited to adult cartoons like Republican Space Rangers but I could draw for kids too. I don't care what people say. Whether it's people in the hood or yuppies saying that it's not needed anymore since it's the internet era."

They arrived at the Dairy Swirl. The two women walked inside and up to the counter. Thankfully there was no line. Just some bored looking staff members and eating customers."What do you want, Peach? It's on me."

They thought a moment then Peaches said, "I'll take a large Burger Ring combo. With a sprunk," Delores thought it over. "I'll have a large Meat Whip combo with an E Cola," The Guatemalan man behind the counter nodded and said, "Muy bien. We'll have that up for you soon, okay?"

Delores paid for it giving him a twenty. He got her change and then quickly said the order in Spanish to the cookers in back. The man asked, "Will that be all for you today? And will that be for here or to go?" Delores told him, "For here. Let me also get a Fudge g00d Sundae. You want any ice cream, Peaches? I got you, girl."

Her friend thought it over and said, "Sure. I'll take a Strawberry Digger sundae."

They noticed a beat up old station wagon and an obese white male in a white shirt and green pants was driving. In the car with him, a Caucasian woman with red hair in a light blue blouse and white pants. Delores assumed she must have been his wife. In the back seat a brunette woman who looked a lot like the red head appeared to be pregnant and was going into labor. Peaches smirked. "Esos tres mirada perdida, eh Del? Muy perderán si terminaron aquí!" **(Those three look lost, eh Del? Very lost if they ended up out here!)**

He was practically shouting at the drive-thru menu screen so they could hear him. He spoke with a New England accent. "Uh, yeah I'll have three cheeseburgers..."

His wife in the front seat yelled, "What the hell is the matter with you?! She's having a baby!" The man sheepishly turned back to the speaker and said, "Oh...yeah. Um and a kids meal!"

He then seemed to idle in the drive thru and said, "I'd get an order of large fries too but only if you two will help me eat them. I don't wanna feel like a fatty."

The two cholas cracked up at the scene. Finally their food was ready and they went to go eat at the table. As they ate, Peaches asked her, "So why don't you go back into paintings? You should! You can go back to school I know they got good schools for art degrees. Even in this city. You could work here and then you could travel and go around the world. Paint what you see."

Delores washed down her bite of her burger with a drink of E Cola. "Whatever I do, I just want to get the fuck out of the barrio. I'm not doing anything around here but getting into all kinds of trouble and Pablo, he clearly wants this life no matter what happens to him. You know even before papi left for Mexico, he started to sense that Pablo was headed down the same road as he was. He knew it was just a matter of time. Then when mami died and he had to do what he did, he had to flee the country. He didn't want to leave us, even though i was grown but he had to."

Peaches took a few fries and chewed them thoughtfully. "So is he still mad about that? Since he found out?" Delores had told very few people about the truth of what had happened. Peaches was one of them. Plus Smiley and Spooky but that was it.

She could never tell Maria or Piernas or even Chewie. Or Spider for that matter had he still been alive. Dreamer, the Vaga who had backed her up when they fought the Rollers in that rumble would have been okay too but she hadn't considered ever telling her. She had just never thought of it. It had never crossed her mind but she was Smiley's girlfriend so of course she was trustworthy.

"Yeah he's pissed off. I guess I can't blame him," She admitted. "I would be too and i feel like a fucking idiot for hiding that from him but when i got the call from papi in the middle of the night he was already on his way out of the country. When i found out what happened and I had to tell him mom was dead, he was in tears. I'm talking crocodile tears. He was so heart broken. I was too but I tried to be strong for both of us."

She sighed as she dipped some fries in ketchup. "He was so traumatized by it I couldn't handle telling him the truth. He had no idea they had been involved in gangs. So I told him that she had been killed in a car wreck. It was partly true. The guys that did it did ram into her car. Then they shot her up with two much H while she was knocked out and killed her. I talked to the mortician on the hush and he told me that the car accident had knocked her out but didn't kill her."

She tried to blink back tears. "Le dispararon con el caballo. Eso fue lo que la mató. Estos chicos solían ser sus cuates. Ver que salió de la banda y tenía incluso ambos han saltado fuera. La mayor parte de su tripulación había estado bien con él, pero los dos chicos que había odiado por ello. Una vez que el rey siempre es un rey."

**(They shot her up with horse. That was what killed her. These guys used to be their homeboys. See they got out of the gang and had even both been jumped out. The majority of their crew had been okay with it but those two guys had hated them for it. Once a King always a King.)**

Peaches frowned. "Lo siento que no debería haber preguntado."**(I'm sorry I should not have asked. ) **

Delores wiped her tears away. "It's fine. It doesn't matter, any how. What my dad told me was that at one time the Brown Kings were about La Raza too back in the 70's but once they got into the eighties that started to decline. Then it became about drugs and power. He later learned that a King's worst enemy is another King. Because your homies know all your secrets so the best friends make the worst enemies. I guess they betrayed each other a lot."

She just sighed. "I guess I could look up some art schools. The ones in this town are supposed to be great. Maybe I will get into the classes. I don't know we'll see. I didn't think I wanted to leave the hood before but I think it might be a good idea in the long run. If I ever do have children again and that's a big if, I have to consider their safety. I may not be perfect but I'm going to learn from my mistakes."

Peaches took a sip of Sprunk and replied, "Well, l hear you on wanting to travel like you said earlier. I do too. The world has a lot of beauty to offer. I'd go all over. Mexico, Egypt, South America, Africa, England, just so I can cross Abby Road, I mean there's places to go and people to meet. I'd go more than once but at the end of the day, this will always be home to me."

Delores scooped up some fries and crunched away. "You never wanted to get out of the barrio? Why not? You're smart, Ramona. You could just as easily make it out of here too. I know you could do good in the world yourself. You gotta know your mind is too big for just that place."

Peaches shrugged as she swallowed a bite of burger. "I just never saw it as something to do. Granted I do want to travel myself and I hope I live to get to do what I want to and you too but this is home to me. It always will be. I got all I need in Douglass Park. I could never live in Richman or Vinewood no matter how glamorous they try to make it seem. I'm home."

She pointed out to Delores, "You know, everything wrong with the barrio, Brown people killing each other, that could change. It aint gonna change by running away. We could start getting truces between every cliqua, every varrio. La Onda has been meaning to enforce that shit anyway, right? It would still be our hood and it would still be rough but if we can at least not have to fear getting killed by our own we can make it! That's how it used to be too."

Delores wasn't sure about that. "You can't honestly believe that? Even if there was peace in our hoods, if it wasn't each other it would just be something else. It would be nice to stop the violence but is that realistic to think we can? It's never easy for either side to look past the lost ones we loved."

Peaches insisted. "Todavía tendríamos que mirar hacia fuera para la policía, los rodillos y los ballers pero eso es evidente. Todos son enemigos de nuestra comunidad si usamos nuestros colores o no! El punto es, si podemos trabajar en paz con nosotros mismos, con los barrios Matone rivales y, finalmente, las Truchas, que por lo menos sería mucho más seguro para nuestros hijos,"

**(We would still have to look out for the cops, the rollers and ballers but that goes without saying. They're all enemies of our community whether we wear our colors or not! The point being, if we could work on peace with our own, with any rival Matone neighborhoods and eventually the Truchas, it would at least be a lot safer for our kids.)**

Delores started in on her ice cream. "Sí que estaría bien, pero ¿cómo es que alguna vez suceda? Yo podría estar abierto a una tregua si yo era capaz de obtener primero los tontos que mataron a Carlos y mi hijo. No es una venganza azar golpeó como Piernas o Chewie gusta hacer. Me refiero a los hombres exactos que lo hicieron. Pero ¿cómo iban a ser capaz de mirar más allá de eso? Tal vez funcionaría si no sabían que era yo, pero si tengo un mal rato mirando más allá de nuestros hermanos y hermanas caídos, ¿quién puede decir que no?"

**(Yes that would be nice but how would it ever happen? I might be open to a truce if I was able to first get the fools who killed Carlos and my son. Not some random revenge hit like Piernas or Chewie like to do. I mean the exact men who did it. But how would they ever be able to look past it? Maybe it would work if they didn't know it was me but if I have a hard time looking past our fallen brothers and sisters, who is to say they won't?)**

Peaches calmly explained, "Esa es la parte más difícil de cualquier tregua. Es difícil de tragar el orgullo y mirar más allá de ella. Para un mayor bien común. Tengo amigos que viven en esos barrios que quiero ser capaz de volver a visitar. Además, recuerde amigo Peewee de Pablo? Él tiene un primo en las Truchas. Un rival pero siguen siendo amigos. A pesar de que todo lo que reforzó con ellos, sé Peewee nunca haría daño a su primo y lo mismo pasa con él."

**(That is the hardest part of any truce. It is hard to swallow pride and look past it. For a greater common good. I have friends that live in those neighborhoods that I want to be able to visit again. Also, remember Pablo's friend Peewee? He has a cousin in the Truchas. A rival but they're still family. Even as much as we beefed with them, I know Peewee would never harm his cousin and the same goes for him.)**

She then added, "Mira, Delores, los chicos que fundaron La Onda, querían nuestro pueblo a unirse contra nuestros enemigos en los sistemas penitenciarios. Más tarde, en la calle. Si volvió a ser de la gente, más que las drogas y el dinero, todo esto es posible. Sólo tenemos que, al menos, intentarlo,"

**(Look, Delores, the guys that founded La Onda, they wanted our people to unite against our enemies in the prison systems. Later, on the streets. If it went back to being about the people, more so than drugs and money, all of this is possible. We just have to at least try. )**

Delores took a bite of ice cream. "Bien, pero incluso si unimos todos los cliquas en Los Santos, cada barrio, ¿qué pasa con los basquetbolistas y los rodillos? Puedo entender ahora odia los basquetbolistas y hemos estado luchando contra los rodillos durante mucho tiempo, pero ¿qué hay de la paz con los rodillos? Si queremos la paz con todos los Siders del Sur, ¿no deberíamos también hacer lo mismo con ellos? Creo que tengo una oportunidad de ganar la confianza de los hombres de la capilla de nuez."

**(Okay but even if we do unite all the cliquas in Los Santos, every barrio, what about the ballers and the rollers? I can understand now hating the ballers and we have been fighting the rollers for a long time but what about peace with the rollers? If we want peace with all the South Siders, shouldn't we also do the same with them? I think I've got a shot at earning the trust of the men from Nutty Hood.)**

Peaces seemed very skeptical about it even though she had wanted to try initially to get peace between the two. They had always fought them even when they had been called OGF but a lot of it had to do with their anti drug stance back in the day. Since the Rollers were now slinging like any other gang in the city, now that their gang's celebrity was dead and even his brother the leader, was now MIA, the Ballas had fucked them over. Still, she was not close to trust.

She reasoned to Delores, "Por mucho que yo quiero ver que eso suceda, no estoy seguro. No es lo mismo con ellos. Pensé que podía yo, pero luego mira lo que pasó en Idlewood? Las putas de la 60 cuadrilla llegó iniciar algún pedo con nosotros. Incluso Jorge es escéptico y estaba en el propio Consejo, y ahora él se preocupa de que yo o que podría recibir un disparo durante ese rumor. ¿Sabes cómo los rodillos y los basquetbolistas son. Por lo general, nunca se pelea a puñetazos con el puño de manera uniforme y, cuando lo hacen, si pierden no son sólo va a aceptar la derrota con honor."

**(As much as I want to see that happen, I am not sure. It is not the same with them. I thought we could myself but then look what happened in Idlewood? Those putas from the 60 gang came along starting some pedo with us. Even Jorge is skeptical and he was on board himself but now he worries that me or you might get shot over that rumble. You know how the rollers and the ballers are. They usually never fight fist to fist evenly and when they do, if they lose they aren't just going to accept defeat with honor.)**

She then said in English, "I mean what is to stop them from deciding the same thing? If they decide enough is enough, both with their in hood set tripping and their war with the Ballers, what if they decide to take the fight to all of us? If the Rollers from Normandy out that way decide to be cool with Nutty Hood, then any understanding we had with them, and Jorge's friendship with Bullet in the past won't matter."

Jorge was Spooky's name. Delores responded, "Well they said they don't got any love for each other. The 60's girls even said that when I pointed that out to them. They're probably the strongest and deepest Roller hood in L.S. but they're also the most hated. Nutty Hood has a lot of soldiers but their turf is pretty much just in Ganton. The 60's spread out. You even hear them spreading out in other states. All I'm saying is we should try for peace with them too."

Peaches was silent a few moments and then said, "I know i agree with you but that also depends on how things are on their end. I know it seems like our cliqua wasn't always at war with them, usually we fought our own and so did they and otherwise left each other alone but the guys that run them in the pinta and La Onda have hated each other since the 70's. The media may think the violence between our communities is a shocker but the beef was already there it just hit the streets from the joint and spread like wildfire."

Delores shrugged and then said, "I don't know for now I will still try. I am not so sure about Midnight but Spooky's old friend Bullet seems to be ok. If there's even one reasonable guy on their side maybe there is hope."

Peaches nodded. "Sin embargo, no podemos unirnos con nadie hasta que primero hacemos por nosotros mismos. Tal vez los dos tenemos que sanar las divisiones en nuestra comunidad antes de que la hostilidad entre nuestras comunidades nunca se detendrá."

Just then, a Chicano man looking to be in his early thirties approached them as they took their trays after finishing their food. He was a bit overweight, dressed in a blue denim jacket, baggy jeans of similar design, and he had a blue bandanna on. His skin was as brown as theirs and he had a short haircut his black hair cut as short as it could be without actually being bald like many cholos of today often were. He wore a blue bandanna over his head which he had tied around his forehead.

He also had a goatee.

"Hey, ¿dónde estás dos bellezas de? Yo no creo que nunca te he visto por aquí," **(Hey, where are you two beauties from? I don't think I have ever seen you around here. ) **As she observed the man she swallowed. He was a Matone. She observed two younger guys at his table where he had been eating before. They too were Matones.

Delores answered as casually as she could hoping a shootout might not ensue. "No somos de por aquí," The man nodded. "I know. You're from Douglass Park, right? I think I've seen you before," She felt her throat go dry. She didn't want to get into any shit here in a public place. The two gang members stood up and Peaches looked at Delores and said, "Vamos."

The man held a hand up to the younger guys and he said, "¡Espera! No quiero hacer daño. Te lo prometo. Sólo escúchame," **(Wait! I mean no harm. I promise. Just hear me out.)**

"I overheard what you said about uniting La Raza and I agree with you. I think I used to know your boyfriend Carlos. Ramon, come here, homes! Didn't you used to kick it with a guy named Carlos back in Douglass Parque? Before you moved to our varrio?"

A young man of Central American descent, with a similar hairstyle to that of Paco, who wore a gray wife beater and blue stonewashed jeans, approached her. "Si. He was my carnal. My homeboy. I haven't seen him in a while though this was years ago. Por que?"

The Elder gang member said, "This is his ruca. I've seen her before just not around here. I've seen those two love birds out and about before. Where's Carlos now? I'm Carlito Picon. Most just call me niño helada. You can call me whichever. Anyway we don't want beef at all here. At least not with any other Chicano cliquas. Call me old school but I agree with Onda's old way rather than the way it is now."

Delores liked what he was saying but she hated to admit, "Carlos is dead. We had a kid too and...he was shot. By the MT's."

Both Helada and his younger friend Ramon seemed disturbed by this. Ramon walked away and walked into the bathroom. His other friend got up and followed him. "Carnal! You okay?" Helada shook his head. His seemingly tough brown eyes flashed with grief but he maintained his cool though she suspected he might cry later. "Lo Siento. He was a good man. He didn't deserve that. I am sorry for your loss. For him and your child."

Delores, though she hated having to tell the story said, "Gracias," She wanted to change the subject, "So you were saying you overheard and agreed with what me and her were saying? Me llamo Delores Fortuna. Yes I'm a Vaga but no matter how much we try to act like we're not, I think we are South Siders too. We just never called ourselves Matones."

Peaches also introduced herself to Helada.

The man sighed. "Yeah I've seen a lot of good friends die over some stupid shit. Some of the cliquas we got beef with now we used to be cool with. So yeah, I'm okay with trying to get all our leaders together," He then took a small slip of paper out and wrote on it and then slid it to Delores. "That's my cell phone number. If you're serious about it give me a call when you got the chance. I think we can help each other out, our varrios, in more ways than you know. I gotta go get mi amigos outta the john. It was nice to meet you ladies."

His two homeboys walked outside, Ramon clearly still upset over Carlos. Before Helada headed out to follow them he said, "Mira, Delores you should listen to your friend though. She knows what she's talking about. The Ballas an the Rollers, they can't be trusted. I remember this shit on the news that made me sick a couple of weeks ago. Some poor girl from Guatemala went through one of their hoods and two men raped her taking turns and then they cut her throat. They asked her what hood she was from when they first saw her. She couldn't speak English that well but she did tell them that she didn't bang."

Delores remembered hearing about that on the news. It had sent chills up her spine too. In fact when the police arrested them, she found out that actually only one of the two men did bang. The one who had asked her hood affiliation. The other had just been the guy's friend, some fool from the same hood but he had raped and helped kill her too. _Don't gotta be in a gang to be a piece of shit. _

He warned, "Those fuckers...they're sick, Esa. Be careful if you go into their neighborhoods. The media is on their side too. We shoot some of them and we're like terrorists. All people from East Los and I admit we do got homies who smash both of their gangs. Still, if they rape and kill a girl from our varrio, and they did, it's just seen as an isolated incident. Just...be careful. Por favor. And gimme a call if you and your shot caller ever want to try and reach a common ground, entiendes?"

Delores nodded and they exchanged info. "I will. What varrio are you from? Just so we know who we're asking for peace with,"

The man grinned and said, "Oldest cliqua in Los Santos. Cerco Blanco. White Fence. You take care, huh?"

He walked out. Soon after, the two women left as well and got back in the car. It was time to take Peaches home. She needed some sleep. As they drove, Delores commented, "I think I'm gonna regret those drinks in the morning! Maybe next time we go to the club we should just go dancing?"

Peaches laughed and so did Delores but hers was ironic laughter. "I hear that. I love to dance. Maybe if you meet a cute guy you and him and me and Jorge can all go on a double date?"

As they drove, Delores put the radio to Radio Los Santos and the song Dedicated by Litefoot played.

Delores chuckled. "Chale, Peaches I aint ready for that just yet but maybe one day. I'm surprised Pablo hasn't found himself a girlfriend just yet. You know, he's actually pretty smart despite some of the choices he makes. I mean he graduated too just like I did. He at least made a smart choice there. He could get into any college he wants. If I can ever find a way to get him to forgive me, I'll ask him what he plans to do with his life besides just banging."

Peaches thought for a moment and then said, "Well don't you remember? I remember he always liked animals. Like most Indian boys. He was a sucker for cats and dogs but even had a pet squirrel! Do you remember him?" Delores laughed at that along with Peaches. "Of course i remember! How could I forget?! Papi paddled his ass pretty hard but he begged them to let him keep it. I think dad only did that because he knew those things could have rabies."

Delores reminded her, "Then mami ended up talking dad into it. She always could. He found ways to feed him and kept him in a cage but let him out in his room. Then a while later the poor guy got out and he got run over. He actually paid money to have it stuffed and he kept it as a doll for a while. When it was alive his name was Howitzer but when it was dead they called him Flat Back. He used to use the stuffed dead animal to scare smaller kids in the hood with it."

Peaches laughed at that hard. "I didn't even know that! I'd always wondered why I stopped seeing the little guy when i came over," She had to catch her breath from laughter. "That is sad that happened but only Pablo would think of having the thing literally made to a stuffed animal!"

Delores now was in tears like at the fast food joint but these were from laughing. Finally she calmed down enough to talk as she nearly crashed into another car due to laughing. "Yeah...he always was funny like that. You know I think deep down that side of him still exists. He's just lost. Ever since mami died he seemed angry and I don't blame him. Maybe that's why he says he doesn't remember Mexico. Those were some of the best times we had with her. Maybe he doesn't want to remember."

Finally they pulled up to Peaches's place and she dropped her off. "Hey, that was a blast, Del! We should hang out again soon. Just remember that despite what Vinewood thinks, the good times in the barrio actually do outnumber the bad times."

Delores gave her a quick hug as she got out. "Horale Ramona. You take care, okay?"

_Deal Breaker_

Pablo still had not been home and had not answered his voice mail. She had left him four messages so far. Delores had ended up going home and slept for a while and had more to drink. Then passed out. It was a full eighteen hours since she'd been out with Peaches and here she was hung over again. She got out of bed wearing her pink pajama bottoms and a baby blue blouse. She got into the shower and as she washed, she wondered what kinds of shit Pablo was getting into now. It was early in the morning but that didn't matter in the varrio.

She felt like shit due to being hung over but she saw no reason to look like trash. Her radio was on while she was in the shower. The song What About Love by Heart played. She scoffed to herself bitterly. "What's love got to do with anything? It's just a second hand emotion."

Still, she did like the song. It was very 80's to her. She'd always liked the female rock group. She let the music ease the bitterness out of her spirit and it helped her forget she had a massive hangover even if just for a few minutes. She let the warm water rinse her black hair out and closed her eyes as she sang to the lyrics herself.

I've been lonely  
I've been waiting for you  
I'm pretending and that's all I can do  
The love I'm sending  
Ain't making it through to your heart

You've been hiding - never letting it show  
Always trying to keep it under control  
You got it down and you're well  
On your way to the top  
But there's something that you forgot

What about love  
Don't you want someone to care about you  
What about love  
Don't let it slip away  
What about love  
I only want to share it with you  
You might need it some day

I can't tell you what you're feeling inside  
And I can't sell you what you don't want to buy  
Something's missing and you got to  
Look back on your life  
You know something here just ain't right

What about love  
Don't you want someone to care about you  
What about love  
Don't let it slip away  
What about love  
I only want to share it with you

What about love  
Don't you want someone to care about you  
What about love  
Don't let it slip away  
What about love  
I only want to share it with you

As she finished her shower and sang the song she thought of Carlos. It was true that she had loved him and this song was reminding her of that. She could not decide what she would do with her life especially her love life. One thing she knew about her father was that in his early years as a Brown King he had been promiscuous as 'd had a ton of girlfriends and friends with benefits and flings due to his gang membership. Sometimes with fellow gang members from the Queens and some were just drug users that were willing to sleep him for some blow.

That had only changed when he had met her mother. Around age eighteen. When her mother had died, and after she had forgiven her father for leaving which had taken her at least a year, she had asked him if he had met anybody else as she expected he would and he vowed that he would never love another woman ever again in that way.

He would never date again. It was admirable but in the twenty first century most people regarded people like him as a fool for it. Delores wondered if she would do the same. She had felt like Carlos had been the one but as a result of her gang affiliation, just like her father, she had lost the one she loved. Perhaps it was even worse because she had lost her child. Then as she thought this, she felt bad because she knew that before her mother was murdered, her son was killed in a drive by by a bullet intended for her.

Since their father had at the time been living with mami and her two sons, he had began to love and see the two boys as his own children. He had been heart broken when the oldest got shot just as she had and it had taken every fiber in him to not go killing in revenge over the child. The same had gone for her too but Child Protective Services did not see their redemption or maybe did not care. They had taken the younger boy away from them.

Her parents then moved to Mexico, since Spanish was their first language and Delores was born nine months later. Her father had been twenty four years old when all this had happened, her mother was twenty six. Neither one, much older than she was.

She wondered how she could then, ever date again? Often, when a father died, or a mother and there was a kid in the factor, in their childhood, they hoped that their parents wold not remarry so that they would not forget the dead parent for the hope that one day in heaven, they might be together again. In adulthood however, which Delores had pretty much been when her mother died, she hoped he would find love again so he would not be unhappy.

Now she wondered if she should seek out love again or should she hold that eternal candle like her father had? _No, dumb ass! That would be one thing if the world worked according to the wishes of a young child and anyway that would only apply to me if i still had that one thing that was part of Carlos, our child, is gone! It's like neither one of them were ever here! _She thought bitterly.

She got out of the shower. She got toweled off and went to her bedroom to get dressed. She selected a gold blouse, some daisy duke shorts, and a pair of blue and black pumps that were easier to walk and run in. As tough as she was, shoes like that came in handy for a chola in the hood. The same would apply to men too if they wore anything that was uncomfortable but generally men didn't. It was women who often wore uncomfortable clothes just to look good. Luckily there were ways around it.

As she thought about Carlos, her father and all she had been thinking about while brushing her hair, she thought to herself, _Even if there was a chance I'd ever see him again, I aint going to heaven. He probably aint either and if he didn't then neither did I. The __only one who had a chance was our baby. I'm not even sure I believe in God or an afterlife anymore._

She got a call on her cell phone and it was Little Spitz. "What's up, Delores? Listen can you come through to our varrio? We got some business we need to handle. Big exchange going down in a bit. No details over the phone but can you come through?"

Delores asked him, "Is there anything at all that I should know before I do come through? Anything at all? Did Smiley put you up to this?"

Spitz confirmed this. "Yeah. He's got some things to take care of. Even though he aint my jefe there's a lot of respect between our neighborhoods and I got my hand in the cookie jar in this instance so I may as well be all in, que no?"

He then added, "Any other details, we'll fill you in once you get here."

She hung up. She went to the closet and picked out her H&K P30. This gun, had belonged to her mother. It had sentimental value and this was why three years later she still could not get rid of it. She had not even been aware her mother had still been packing but Delores's father, Raymundo Fortuna, had in tears on the phone a couple of years ago, expressed that maybe if she had taken it with her that night she'd still be alive.

She made sure the gun was loaded and she took two extra magazines with her. She walked outside and hailed a cab after putting her gun in the jacket. They stopped for her and she got in. "I need to go to 106th street," The cabbie nodded, "No problem."

On the radio, Weazel News was on and Jean Tamany was ranting again, still on the shooting that had occurred at the port in Ocean Docks between the Vagos and the Triads. "_This is the problem with America! The liberals want these illegal immigrants to come into our country! They don't care if they steal jobs from good hardworking citizens like you and I! If we want to take ten minutes extra for lunch breaks, that's our business! If we need to nap while driving a forklift that's my God given right as a freedom loving American!"_

The liberal, Alan Holmes who was always trying to argue with him on the show said, "_But Jean, this has nothing to do with jobs or illegal immigration or jobs. These were drug dealers. Cop killing drug dealers. They need to be arrested and stand trial."_

Delores rolled her eyes at the whole conversation. "_Are you in league with the terrorists?! I just know your liberal Messiah Barry Owosu would just love to let all these foreigners in! The thing is, even being a drug dealer is a competitive and lucrative business for employers and employees alike! It's the American way! And these criminals are taking away jobs in that industry from American citizens! How is Richard Bastin supposed to get his Oxy Cotton? Are the Mexicans going to deliver it to him? How are hard working truck drivers supposed to stay up at night if they don't get their methamphetamines? They are keeping the drugs to themselves!"_

Alan said, "_I'm pretty sure that's not what's going on. Drugs are illegal. Simple as that. As for most of the guys you're calling illegal aliens, the majority of them are Indians...excuse me...Native Americans...and the only difference between them and the ones in the US is they speak Spanish. But the majority of the people that come here are not criminals. Those who are should be put in jail. That goes for the Chinese Triads, or the Angels Of Death or the mafia so to speak."  
_

Jean then shouted, "_Holmes, you left wing traitorous sissy! You ought to be locked up and water boarded for saying such unpatriotic garbage! You and every other liberal! The Angels Of Death, the original ones, were WWII veterans. Would you rather the Nazis had won, pal? Is that what you want? Oh you're a liberal of course that's what you want! You'd give them a handy right before they blew your brains out!"_

The ranting did not stop there. "_The Mafia is one of the greatest examples of American success! They have helped this country get through some tough times! Why won't the Triads let us Americans get in on some of their brown sugar? Why do they think they can come to our land and not share their stash? This is bullshit! And then hard working officers of the law, who would have confiscated that, and reinvested into the worthy hands of the right business men who would have shared with us, were killed in the line of duty! They're taking our jobs! What next? Our freedom?"_

Holmes sighed_, "Jean, I don't think you're hearing me. They are selling drugs to every community that is why they are criminals. Those men need to be apprehended and brought to justice."_

_"You pious little shit! They should all be put to death! If it were up to me, they'd all be lynched on the white house lawn! That's how it used to be in this great country and I'm pretty sure it's art of the constitution! You want to have us have our taxes raised just to house criminals? It isn't drug dealing that is the crime it is illegal immigration! If they were American citizens, I would shake their hands! Ohhhh but you're Alan Holmes, the biggest pain in my ass, and I bet you think we should just outlaw guns!"_

Alan then said, _"We should outlaw guns. The only ones who should have guns are the police and the military. The country would be a better place," _Delores was actually starting to find a lot of this to be funny since both were in their own ways, idiots. "_What about me, Alan? This is my gun!" _The sound of a gun being cocked was heard on air. "_Am I a criminal? Should I be locked up for my right to bear arms? It's the second commandment! You want to put me in prison because I love freedom too much? The only thing standing between us and the terrorists are me and Joe Lawton Jr. by God!"_

Alan was begging the man to put the gun down. _"Look...Jean...we can agree to disagree without resorting to violence. Now please put the gun down..I can tell you've been drinking...quite a bit. That isn't water in your water bottle it's Vodka isn't it?..."_

Jean screamed, _"Bullshit! You and I are gonna play a nice little game of Russian Roulette. Vodka? You would know, wouldn't you ya pinko! Since you're obviously a dirty Commie, I'm sure the ways of the Russians are all too familiar to a socialist snake like you! Right here! Right now! Democracy vs Communism! One bullet one shot! We'll see who wins the game after the break!"_

Holmes sounded scared. "_But...Jean...that's a handgun with a magazine...not a Revolver..."_ Finally they cut to commercial break after a female voice said, "_We'll be right back after these messages to see who won between Democrats or Republicans. That was Tamany and Holmes, the show inspired by the I- Say You-Say radio show in the 90's. Showing that the only different between right and left is that a liberal will give you a reach around while they rape you."  
_

Delores chuckled as she paid the cab fair and had arrived. She walked up to the door of the studio and knocked. Piernas answered the door and his eyes were bigger than they should have been, his pupils as big as a ten piece rock. "Que tal, Esa...? What are you doing here?"

She scoffed at him and shoved her way past, and he acted like he didn't know what was wrong with her. "Hey what the fuck did I do? You can't say Hi?" She chewed him out. "You know you aren't supposed to do anything harder than Mary! I got after you about this last time! We're at war, Gabriel! We need to keep our heads straight! You smoking a primo isn't keeping your head straight!"

Piernas laughed and said a little too quickly, "¿Qué eres, mi madre? No sermones Bautista, ¿entendido?" (**What are you, my mother? No Baptist sermons, got it?)**

He then added, "Besides, I only smoke molta when I can't sleep and lately that's all the time. I need to relax, que no? Take the edge off but the blow keeps me just alert enough to not get caught with my pants down when any chavalas come knocking. I'm already to take a puto out! Douglass Parque por vida! Hasta La Muerte!"

She just shook her head is disgust. "You just remember one thing, Piernas. If I ever find out you wee doing any of that shit with Pablo, I will personally beat your ass. No me pongas a prueba Gabriel. I'll cripple you or anybody else over that."

He just laughed at that. "No llories, Del. I know better than to get him high. Speaking of El Carnalito, he's in the other room with Spooky and Roberto. He's going along with us for our little exchange. Baby Loco wants to earn his stripes. Who am I to tell him no? I love the little vato but I'm not his papi. Not my place," She suspected he may have been lying as far as doing drugs with Pablo but was more disturbed by the fact that he was coming along.

Delores thought to herself, _You don't love anything but violence, coke, and maybe your abuela. In that order..._but she said, "He barely got out of there the last time we rolled on the Truchas!ou want him along with us? He isn't gonna want to get in a car with me! He's pissed at me."

Piernas asked, "Por que?" She did not want to tell him. Spooky, Peaches or Smiley, sure but not him. She didn't find Piernas to be as likable or trustworthy as he used to be. "Doesn't matter. The point is, he's pissed and he has a right to be but I don't think he wants to see me right now."

As they walked to the back he shrugged. "Well too fucking bad, eh? He wanted to come along and you're our Hit Girl. He's just gonna have to man up and deal with it. I wish I had a sister who gave a fuck about me when I was growing up."

They walked into the room where Spitz and the other two were. "What's up, Delores? Oye, so here's the plan. Smiley got a call from the Triads. They were in on a deal for our shipment with the Truchas. So the Truchas have agreed to bring our coke back if we agreed to turn over their homeboy to them. Rivera is gonna be there with some of his men too. The deal is on a rooftop of a carpark, downtown."

Delores looked at Pablo and said, "Just what the hell do you think you're doing coming along with us? You on some bullshit macho trip? You think you're gonna be a big time dope dealer? I think you've seen that movie Santana's Way too many times. You forget what happens at the end of that movie, Pablo? He gets shot in the back!"

Pablo scowled at her. "¡Cállate! No llega a darme órdenes más!"** (Shut up! You don't get to boss me around anymore!)**

He then said, "I fucking hate you, Delores. You lied to me about why Dad left and about how mama died. I'm not in this shit to become some kingpin either. Shows what you know. I'm here because I'm going to get the motherfuckers that killed Junior. Simple as that."

She looked at him with confusion. "¿Qué estás hablando?" **(What are you talking about?) **Delores informed him, "It's just to exchange the Triad Spitz took with us for the dope. How do you know he's going to be there?"

Pablo's scowl did not change at all. "He's going to be there. He was their driver! They may have moved the dope but I know he's the courier. That puto is mine."

Spooky nodded. "He is gonna be there. There's also a big earner for the Truchas who is going to be there too. I want to try and take that cabron out while I have a chance. I'd love to have things go smoothly at this deal but I don't trust them to keep their word."

Piernas nodded. "Si mon. Plus the Triads, vato. I don't know about the rest of you but I don't want those fuckers in my city. Me and Smiley remember the days when those bitches helped the OGF take back Madd Dogg's mansion from the homie Big Papa. They killed a lot of soldados that day. We killed all the Triads there but the chango from Grove Street still killed Papa. Shot him in his ride and blew it up."

Delores looked at him and said, "Who, Carl Johnson? He's been dead for a year now ¿te acuerdas? If you want payback against him it's too late. All the other Triads with him are dead like you say, right? So what's the point in starting more pedo with the Triads?"

Piernas shook his head. "One of these days we're gonna catch their jefe. This blind piece of shit from Fag City. If he ever brings his handicapped ass to Los Santos, he's a dead man. He loaned his boys to mister GSF when his own cliqua was down and out to kill our soldados all because some coked up has been rapper couldn't fight his own battles."

Spooky corrected him. "Those ones were Mountain Cloud, remember? Smiley used to talk about that day as much as you do. These fools we're meeting up with are Red Gecko Tong. They're one of the bigger tongs in the West Coast. Even give the Triads in Liberty a run for their money. It doesn't matter. Just be ready for shit to hit the fan, okay? Now we need to get our artillery ready."

He lead them to a table where Little Spitz had a collection of guns. Spooky handed Delores an AK-74. She strapped it around herself and he gave her some magazines for it as well as for her Handgun. Pablo was given two Mac-11's and he had a Glock 19 for a sidearm. Little Spitz took an M4-A2. For a sidearm he had a Beretta. Piernas took an Uzi with exploding shells. "Si...Roberto. This shit is firme. Where did you get these?"

Delores was blown away by the weapons Spooky had too. "That gun Spooky has is illegal as fuck, homes. Serio. Not for civilians at all. I don't think even chotas are supposed to have em. Just military but see, my barrio is in good with Senor' Rivera. That motherfucker could even get us RPG's if we ever needed them. "

Spooky had an AA-12 Shotgun. He nodded in agreement with what Little Spitz had just said. "Si mon que si. This is the kind of shit they would have in the Marines, homes. Check out these shells, Ese. Fucking armor piercing bullets. Fragmentation shells too. Shit explodes in mid air or on contact. Fucks you up."

Pablo frowned. "Why do I only get a couple of Mac's? That looks way more firme!" Spooky laughed and patted him on the back. "This is heavy artillery, Baby Loco. You aint ready for this just yet. Mac's are a good way to start off. Easy to conceal, simple enough to reload. I'll show you how to use this thing next time, okay? But for now, I did put up the feria for these babies for Little Spitz to get from the Colombians so me and him get first pick. Everybody else gets what they get."

He then handed Pablo some body armor to put on as well. He also gave Delores, Spitz and himself one. "You too, Piernas. This aint Exploder, bro. Put the vest on, homie."

Piernas lit a cigarette. "Chale, Spook. Those things aint comfortable. I'm feeling lucky anyway, dog. Let's just bounce. I want to light up some of these suits," By suits, he was referring to the upper class way Triads sometimes dressed.

Spitz shook his head. "No, Gabe you gotta control yourself. We're gonna be going in there to deal not fight. Now I hate the Brujas as much as you do but business is business. Maybe if we go in there intending to honor the deal they will too."

They put their vests on and went out to the silver Calvaclade Spitz had outside. "Delores, you mind driving? Me and Spooky are gonna toke some molta."

Delores got in the front seat and was handed the keys. While Spitz rolled up the blunt, Delores could smell the bud before they had even lit it up. It must have been some strong shit. If she wasn't driving and didn't need to be fully alert she might have smoked it too. "Oye, let me get a hit off that shit too, Spitz."

Little Spitz shook his head. "No way. Not this time, compa you had enough to smoke with that primo you fucking pendejo. The fuck are you thinking with that bullshit, Ese? Only pee wees smoke that dumb shit."

Piernas scoffed. "Nah that's PCP you're talking about, Spitz. I see how it is, bro. You oughta get your last name changed from Garcia to Goldstein, Little Swallows. Stingy motherfucker,"

Spitz laughed and said, "Whatever you say, piernas de pollo."

This caused Piernas's face to go dark. "Don't ever call me that again if you want to live to be a successful rapper. You don't know me well enough to call me that, puto and even people who do, don't."

Delores was confused. "Wait, I thought they called you Piernas cause of that bad compound fracture you got back in the 90's? That's why you got scars on both, right? From when the bone was sticking out?"

He shivered at the thought. "Mierda, Del don't remind me of that! That was the worst pain I was in in my life! But no, when I was younger, I had skinny legs before I went to the pinta and got in shape. People used to call me Chicken Legs. The last boboso to do that ended up in the hospital with a punctured lung. Keep that in mind, Roberto!"

Little Spitz shrugged. "Don't call me Swallows then! Simple as that! I get more pussy than you do anyway, cabron! You were probably doing the group hugs in the shower. Not me. I only been to county, not the big pen."

Pablo seemingly lightened up at that and laughed but Piernas just said, "Yeah, you make some g's off of your underground music and you think you made it big time. Those chicas wouldn't even be around you if you didn't have de niro."

Spitz shook his head. "I got plenty of love from the hynas before I even started rapping, ese. It isn't about the money it's about the man making the money. When's the last time you ever had a girlfriend, fool? Besides those black drag queens they got in the slammer?"

Piernas laughed getting into the shit talking. "Sabes que I was tongue diving tu madres panty bacon last night, smart guy!" Pablo howled with laughter and so did Spitz even though he flipped him off. "Callate, you two. There's a lady, present, ese! Where's your manners?"

Piernas and Spitz both laughed at that. "I think Peaches has him whipped," Gabe roared and Spitz added, "She's fine, man, she can whip me any day!" Delores assured Spooky, "Don't worry, homes. I aint offended I've heard worse. We can be as foul mouthed as the guys."

Spooky nodded. "I know what you mean, mija. Mi madre and mi padre were just very strict. They taught me I shouldn't use language like that around a lady. Cussing up a storm is one thing but referring to a lady's womanhood as panty bacon, mi madre would still slap the shit out of me for that if I ever said it."

Piernas mocked him. "Awwww mamas boy won't say bad words cause his mami won't let him! What are you a square, homes? Who the fuck ever heard of a cholo with manners?"

Spooky rolled his eyes. "Learn about the original cholos. The pachuco zoot suiters, P. They were gentlemen! Not bald headed boboso's like you. They also wore their hair like mine and had respect for women. I don't believe women are any weaker than men but in this day and age, too many men have no more chivalry."

Pablo intervened with his own question. "Spooky, I thought in El Salvador, the men and women when they work, they work separate? Men with men and women with women? I only ask because I remember before I got my first job working at Clucking Bell, the guy they interviewed before me, he wanted to know if they could separate the genders just like back home where he lived. That's why they didn't hire the stupid maricon. So you're telling me you don't think that way?"

Spooky explained, "As a rule, most Pre Colombian Native societies were respectful to women and even empowered and held them in esteemed positions. Like the Iroquois, or Navajo. We were no different, man. That shit you hear about work in El Savador, that's people listening to that Spanish Catholic bullshit. We may speak Spanish and may may even practice their stupid Christian bullshit but we aint 'Hispanic' Entiendes? We're Indigenous. Nican Tlaca. Of Cemenhuac ancestry."

Delores rolled her eyes at her little brother. "Well, look at that. It speaks after all!" He growled, "Yeah but not to you, bitch. Tell me something, is papi as much of a liar as you are? He would have to be! He was in on it with you. He had to be if you and him managed to keep it from me!"

Delores sighed. "I'm sorry, Pablo. You were crying so hard I just didn't think, okay? I didn't know what else I could do. Dad only got one of the guys that killed mom. The other survived and just went to the hospital. He thought they were both dead and so did I for a long time but he just found out...and then I just found out."

Pablo just looked out of the window. "You're my sister. You don't lie to me about shit like that and he shouldn't either! He's mi padre. You, I can sort of understand at least even though all I want to do is punch you for not telling me. I thought we were all alone in the world and then I find out my dad isn't a dead beat who saw mami in our eyes every time he saw us, no it turns out he was a banger himself! The same life he told us to stay away from! He was a hypocrite! Him and mom!"

Delores scolded him. "That doesn't make them hypocrites, idiota. It makes them smart! They've been down that road and know where it ends up. What makes somebody a hypocrite is when they continue to do it even after they condemn it."

Pablo snorted. "You mean like you do?" She snapped, "You know what? I've had enough of your shit! I've been looking out for you these last three years and all you do is bitch about it. I kept you fed, made sure you had clothes made sure you got your ass to school. Nobody did that shit for me! Anyway, I already fucked up and I'm willing to admit that so no, I'm not a hypocrite cause these days La Vida is all I have left to make ends meet."

She swallowed then added, "You're just being a dumb ass by wanting to live the life you see glorified in fucking Vinewood and Hip Hop videos. You say you don't got any other way to make money too but you could at least use what you already learned to put yourself in college. You could be a veterinarian but you'd rather go the route that me, Dad and Mom already went down. The cycle is never gonna stop if you keep fucking up."

Pablo snickered at her words. "A Hip Hop video? The only thing those fakers shoot is their cameras and their mouths. That's it! They talk about it, I live it. I don't rap myself, no offense Spitz cause your shit is firme but 90% of rap today is fucking gay. But even those mainstream fakers like Lil Wayne, Fat Joe, and even Madd Dogg, they all got this money but they wish they ever had the cojones to be like me. They're making a living off of lying about what they did!"

Spitz agreed. "Si mon, fuck all those putos. They think they get laid cause they're players but it is still tricking even if you do got it! It's only if you don't got jack shit but still got hynas after you that you should be bragging. Besides, they pay all these bodyguards from their old hood to look after them even if they walk through their old hood! I don't need any bodyguards or entourage to walk with me through my hood! Never will!"

Spooky pointed out, "But you do got bodyguards that you pay too," Little Spitz shrugged. "So what? Yeah I pay them now when i have extra but underground rappers are making thousands not millions. My backup, compa? They offered to do it for free, vato! That's how you know you really got respecto in the neighborhood. And I took them up on that, I appreciate the love they show somebody who made it so yeah, now, I do take care of them to show love back. It'd be dishonest not to. But Madd Dogg, OG Loc, Lil Stain, all those bobosos, they couldn't go to their old hood and if they weren't rich they wouldn't have shit."

He took a hit off the blunt, held it, exhaled and then said, "So rap game or not, I'm set either way. It doesn't matter what way it goes. Hang on a sec guys I gotta make a quick text."

They got to the car park and pulled up driving into it and Delores turned and went around to the next ramp up till she got to the top floor. She saw Rivera and five bodyguards with him, all she got out with the other three Vagos, he greeted. "¿Cómo estás, Delores? Es bueno verte de nuevo. Me gustaría que no fuera en tales circunstancias."

**(How are you, Delores? It is good to see you again. I wish it were not under such circumstances. )**

She replied to the Colombian drug lord, "He estado mejor y he estado peor. A fin de cuentas no está mal,"** (I've been better and I've been worse. All things considered not bad.)**

Spitz opened up the trunk of the Calvaclade. "Al right you piece of shit. Time to wake up. Come on bitch you want a drink?" He had a flask of alcohol and he threw it on the Triad's eyelids. He forced him to his feet with his Beretta pointed at his back. "Suddenly we seem like the wrong hombres to rob, eh perro?"

The man hissed at him, "You'll all pay for this. When my brothers in arms get here you'll be begging for death. That will be mercy compared to what will be done to you. You really think you will get your drugs back?"

Spitz hit him in the face and yelled, "Shut up!"

The Triad, the same one who they had taken from the shooting at the docks, laughed. "You...will wish you had not done that. We are the most powerful group in the world...do you really think your ghetto street gang...has a chance against us?"

Finally, some cars began to arrive. Two low riders showed up, both Savannah's and four Truchas got out of each car. There was also three black cars, one a Sentinel, another, a Merit, and the third a Willard. Out of these, came carloads of Triads. The Truchas were armed with SMG's and shotguns while the Triads appeared to have Assault Rifles and a couple of Desert Eagles.

As the representative from each gang came forward, one, a Triad dressed in a gold silk shirt and black pants, a short Chinese man with a goatee and long wavy black hair. The other, was a cholo dressed in all blue, the South Side colors.

"That's Chino," Said Spooky. "He's a big time earner for the MT's," Chino was half Mexican and half Asian. He had many of the features of a Mexican and was slightly taller than your average Chinese person would be and he had a flat top haircut but his eyes resembled that of his Chinese father rather than his Chicana mother. Even his street nickname reflected his mixed ancestry but it was also a term of respect too.

Delores had heard a lot about him. La Onda loved him. He was fluent in four languages. English, Spanish, Cantonese, and Nahuatl. Despite his features he seemed to identify more with his Mexican side. Delores had heard stories about him on the street. He was one of the reasons that the Vagos lost their original barrio in Doberman Park.

He was considered more of a terror inside the pinta than out. The Triad in charge approached Delores, Spooky and Little Spitz. Delores remembered her brown rag that she would put over her face when she got the chance if shit went wrong. The Triad looked to Chino who then beckoned to a friend of his who had a big truck, a red Mule. Delores saw him. A bald Central American man, head shaved Cholo style and he had a goatee like Piernas and a handle bar mustache like Smiley.

Pablo growled. "That's the puto that killed Junior," Under his breath. Spooky tried to keep him cal. "Just be cool, carnal," He whispered. "At least wait until we get the shit back from them before you do anything. Stay calm bro."

The Triad said, "I see you've left our friend in...most displeasing condition. I should like to hope you would have taken one of the Truchas and done the same to him had you taken one alive. Then again, you would probably do worse than that."

Delores barked, "Just cut to the chase! The blow for the pipsqueak!" The wounded beaten Triad shouted, "Fuck off! Stupid American bitch...," Delores chuckled. " Americano? Soy Mexicana Y Puerto Rican. I'm fifty one percent sweetheart and forty nine percent bitch. Don't push it or you'll find out what a bitch I can be."

Piernas laughed at that. Spooky said, "Oye are we gonna deal or what? Enough chit chat. Hand over the keys to the truck and then you get your man back. No funny shit, either," Rivera stepped up to the Triad thug and said, "I am afraid, my circumstances have...given mi amigos reason to be hostile. I apologize for their harsh words but you need to understand, it is not just them you steal from but me too."

The Triad sneered. "Friend? You don't got any friends. We can do business but if its anybody who needs to know their place it's you. We're the biggest organization in the underworld on a global scale. These MT boys are the biggest street gang and just like us, international. Put that together and you got two forces to be reckoned with."

Piernas aimed his Uzi at them and this caused the Triad bodyguards to aim weapons as well. Chino just watched and laughed. "Fuck it, eh! I'd rather skip the talking and just start dropping these pickle puffers right now. Fuck the dumb shit, Rivera. Show them whose town this is really."

Rivera held up a hand to be diplomatic. "Gabriel, por favor...now...Senor Chan. I prefer to have business go smoothly without any confrontations. It makes it much easier for everybody in the interests and fairness of capitalism, yes? However I find myself in a difficult position. When somebody steps on my shoes, I am afraid I must not let it go unanswered. As you know, I am the biggest coke dealer in the west coast. I gladly would have done business with you had you only paid and not stolen from me."

Chan crossed his arms. "Well when it comes to business, some of us have mutual business ambitions. We need to expand into L.S. but we don't like Vagos thinking they can sell coke in front our our restaurants and our businesses. They think they run downtown."

Chino added, "Serio? That's what you think? Actually downtown is fair game for everybody The Bar Ho's...excuse me...I mean Vagos, just think downtown is their turf. The fact is, it aint. We got trappers down there, and so do the Ballas and Rollers, and even those methed out white trash you see riding on hogs. Everybody thinks downtown L.S. is theirs for the taking."

"Be that as it may," Rivera continued, "How can I trust, that given your attempts to sabotage our business venues,you will not just try and take the coke after we hand your amigo back to you?" Chan snorted. "Yeah right, pal. How do I know you aren't just gonna take the coke and shoot Chan?"

Chino then looked like he thought of something. HE spoke in Cantonese to Chan who then answered back harshly. Delores demanded, "What did you just say?" Chino looked to her and said, "I was saying, you all get the coke, the Triads get their homeboy back, but what the fuck do we get out of the deal?"

Pablo snarled, "You get to live, that's what you get Mara Puta dick head! You don't like it you can get the fuck outta here, homes!" Chino ignored his remark and kept his cool but said to Chan, "You know, your friend here did rat us out. Both us and you when he told these Bar Ho's about our deal and how we tipped you off about Rivera's shipment. Should we really be giving up our blow, the one thing we also get out of the deal, for a piece of shit that talked?"

Chan gave Chino the evil eye. "You stole that coke and we tried to steal heroin and instead wound up with nothing. Just a lot of dead bodies. We don't see much reason to hold onto the coke if we aren't going to get it all for ourselves. We needed friends in L.S. but it seems by trying to make friends with the Truchas we made a lot more enemies than we needed."

Rivera warned them, "Hey! You don't try and go back on your words! We are here to negotiate! We are men, not beasts!" Chino shook his head. "Well, if these Red Gecko jotos are really gonna give us the worst part of the deal where we get nothing then fuck it. The deal is off. It would still be on if we had our own compensation but it looks like the deal is something that only 18th street and the Triads benefit from. What about our losses?"

The gang banger who had shot and killed Junior nodded in agreement. "Si mon. Fuck you both. Rivera, we don't need your help either. You aint the only coke runner in San Andreas. There are plenty of cartels south of the border willing to deal. They can drive that shit through here from TJ in just a matter of hours. Your snow maybe good in Bogota but you would have to either fly or float it here."

Though he was Columbian because of where he grew up, he had been from Bolivia originally.

Rivera spat, "You are making a big mistake!" Chino aimed his Walther P99 at the Triad hostage. "Chale. We're just renegotiating. Take away Chan's bargaining chip," With that he let off four shots. Three of them hit the already wounded Triad who then collapsed to the ground. "Son of a bitch!" Shouted Chan and his me began to open fire at both the Vagos and the Truchas. "Do not let any of them escape here alive! We kill them all and keep the cocaine!"

Delores and the other Vagos took cover but Spooky shouted, "Like hell you will! You aint from L.S. puto! Maybe those Rifas let you fuck them but we aren't going to!"He fired his AA-12 and hit a Triad body guard in the knee cap. The powerful automatic shotgun's rounds blew his knee out completely and separated the top half of his leg from the lower part as the powerful weapon sawed through his bone. The man's scream was deafening but the Truchas and the Vagos and the Triads exchanging gunfire covered that up.

The Truchas opened fire on the Vagos and Triads as well. Delores aimed her AK down her sights and fired ten rounds nailing a Trucha, a heavy set El Salvadoran man, in the left femur and his right rib cage. The man fell, and she was not sure if she had killed or just wounded him. Virtually all the gang members in the three way shooting were taking cover behind many of the cars in the parking lot of the top floor of the car park.

Delores fired more rounds, aiming for a female Trucha who had an SMG which she was spraying trying to hit Piernas with. She hit the woman with rounds to the chest but officially killed her as one fat AK slug tore through her left eye socket. She emptied her remaining magazine into the nearest two Triads, and she only managed to hit one as they both had taken cover behind a black Cheetah. The one she had hit, she got with four rounds in the right side of the collar bone and two rounds in the chest.

She reloaded and went from the cover of the car she was in, to cover behind a Red Bobcat even as bullets whizzed past her. Little Spitz, who had covered his face up fully with two brown rags, was firing his M-16 variant at the other Triad that Delores had not hit. The rounds went through both the right side window of the backseat of a Patriot as well as the left side back window. He winged the guy in the shoulder with four rounds, two of which made exit wounds but the guy was still in the fight.

Piernas emptied his Uzi on both a Triad and an MT banger. "Douglass Park Locos, pinche mamon! Bow down to the Vagos, maricon! V18! Remember that shit!" He shouted as his rounds hit a Trucha looking to be bout nineteen years old in the side near the armpit. The guy went down as the rounds did serious internal damage to him. Pablo unloaded both Mac-11's as he ran from the cover he was behind, to where a blue Admiral was parked. He managed to hit both a man and a woman, both of who were Truchas.

The woman, he got with seventeen rounds in the chest which pretty much destroyed both of her otherwise ample breasts. The man, he hit with nine rounds, up his leg, in the stomach, the chest and one had gone into his neck. The guy wasn't dead but was wounded bad enough that it would be a matter of seconds before he did. Delores blindly fired her AK from cover around the side of the vehicle. She managed to wound Chan with rounds to the side of his left leg and one in the waist.

A stray round hit her left forearm as he fired his MP7 in a rage. "DIE YOU FUCKING GHETTO STREET TRASH! Fuck Hell S!" He screamed making a pun off the name of the city. She fired more rounds at him but he managed to get to cover before she could get him. Pablo advanced from car to car trying to get to the bald MT thug. He reloaded both weapons and as he was he did not notice the Trucha with no shirt on, a muscular man from Panama, creeping up with his own weapon. Before Pablo could fully load, the guy hit him in the side of the face with the pistol. Pablo fell back dropping his weapons as he did.

The gang member kicked him over and he stumbled out of cover. "I got you you little chavala. I hope you prayed to the Virgin, Maria because you're about to meet her," He aimed for Pablo's head but just then he was hit as the car next to him bumped into him and Pablo had to roll away to not get beamed by the car himself.

He snatched up his SMG's, as his arm went under the vehicle just as it maneuvered just about his right arm and had almost beamed him in the face. A 67' Savannah had rammed them, a black one and they got out two from the front seat and they put the seats up so the two in the back could get out. The Trucha who had been run over was then shot in the head. Delores realized, _Spitz must have texted them for backup. _

These were members of the 106th street Vagos, the Tiny Winos whom she had been cool with for a long time. Their shot caller was one of the men with them. His name was La Rana. His actual name was Leo Lopez but he was short and stocky like that of a Frog which was what La Rana meant. He had brown skin, sunken in beady brown eyes, hair slicked back like that of a cholo but had the scowl of an Aztec warrior. He wore a pair of black jeans, a brown checkered plaid shirt over a black T, with only the top button buttoned.

He stood five foot six at most but he was mean in a scrap and could throw blows quick. He was often under estimated because of his size but he was not to be fucked with. Next to him, was Peewee a sixteen year old vago who had slicked back black hair which he had covered in a hair net like many cholos in the 90's often did.

He wore a clean white T and tan khaki shorts that were long enough to almost be pants and stood at about five foot three which had earned him the name Peewee, both his age and his height. He was one one of Pablo's closest homies. He was the one who had just shot the gang banger. He helped Pablo to his feet. "What's up, cabron? Laying down on the job?"

Pablo grinned and got to his feet. La Rana had a 12 gauge shotgun that he began discharging at a Trucha and hit the man in the ass and the back of his legs with the buckshot. "We came to back up Spitz, homes! Gotta protect the next generation of Chicano Hip Hop, que no?"

Delores recognized one of the TW's as one of the girls who had her back in the tussle with the Rollers in Idlewood, her name was Payasa, due to how much makeup she usually wore even when dressed up like a vato as some cholas often did, in a show of gender equality or perhaps a preference of comfortable clothing, so it had earned her that nickname. It was not that she was funny, in fact she was a little too serious sometimes. Stil, she was a down homegirl.

"Hola, Delores. Let's fuck these conos up, eh?" She had an AK-47 which she began unloading on three Triads who had taken cover behind a green SUV. There was one Vago that Delores did not recognize at all. He had a Mac-10 in hand which he was spraying from cover. Payasa had killed one of the Triads behind the car but in the meantime, the other two were still in the fight. One Triad had sprayed his MP5 from cover and had dropped three of Rivera's bodyguards.

Rivera himself opened fire with his own Rifle and killed the Triad who had done this. Delores fired, hitting a Trucha in the back, the rounds smashing through the back muscles. He screamed as he went down, a round ripping through his spine. Piernas had taken a shot in the shoulder from a Trucha. He acted as if he didn't feel a thing and he fired his Uzi without mercy, ripping the blue clad gang member to shreds. Pablo fired his way through two Triads who were trying to guard the exit.

Delores could see that he was going after the Trucha who had shot Juni. He had just finished the last mags in his Mac-11's on the two Triads so he just had his Handgun out now. "No, Pablo! Get your ass back here!" He either did not hear her or he did and did not care. Delores decided to go after him as there were probably more Truchas down there. "Spooky, cover me!" She shouted and he nodded firing his Assault Shotgun at the Patriot which was closest to the exit where two new Triads were taking cover. They were pinned down by his fire and the car began to smoke and catch fire.

Delores made it past them and they tried to get away from the flaming car but it exploded in a deafening blast. One Triad had both legs blasted off and his right arm was halfway off. He hit the ground and stained it with his blood. The other Triad had his left arm and right leg blown off and was still on fire and was rolling and shrieking. Pablo fired his pistol like a madman as there were some newly arrived Truchas in a car but he made short work of them. He reloaded putting a fresh mag in and slapping it home.

He followed the gang member down another floor yelling, "This is for Junior!" He was then out of sight and he yelled, "Pedazo de mierda!" **(You piece of shit!)**

She saw several muzzle flashes indicating both were shooting. Several gunshots sounded. She feared the worst She saw one shadow limping back. The one who had survived. She called out in a shaky voice that sounded far from her own, "Pablo?" Just then the bald man appeared and he was missing one eye due to a gunshot wound. He pointed his Magnum at her. _No! _She thought. He fell as the gun was too heavy. Just then Pablo emerged, a gunshot wound on his shoulder near his left armpit.

She worried because this was not the first time he was shot but this had been a .500 Magnum. He saw her worry and said, "It's just a graze wound. I'm okay," She breathed a sigh of relief. It it had been more than that it likely would have taken his arm off. Though he had just been grazed it was bleeding like it would if he had been shot dead on in the same place by a 9mm. That was how powerful that hand cannon was.

He looked down at the body before they went back up. "I got him for ya, Juni," He said softly. Delores came backup the ramp and fired her Assault Rifle, hitting a gas tank and blew up three Truchas. More cars were arriving coming from downstairs. For some reason, Rivera was on a cell phone and screaming in Spanish. Piernas had taken another shot from a chola in a blue bandanna, a black tank top and khaki pants. He unloaded the Uzi on her and blew away most of her face.

Just then, they heard sirens and there were squad cars showing up arresting the Truchas downstairs. Spooky whistled to the Tiny Winos yelling, "La Jura!" The police had began shooting too and had made their way up to the floor. Two officers, one, a redhaired Caucasian woman with a shotgun, another a tall white male with a jarhead hairstyle, and the other a muscular black man, were shooting at them.

Spooky stayed ducked down long enough to reload and then began to unload on them with his HEAB rounds that were air burst fragmentation shells detonated in midair. It blew the arm off of the white cop, his arm just barely hanging on by a threat of muscle. The redhead tried to help him as he fell over screaming like a stuck animal. The other cop fired his pistol, hitting Delores with seven rounds in the chest. He screamed on the radio, "Requesting backup! Suspects are armed and dangerous, I count at least seven Hispanic males, two females, and I think I see some Tr..."

Spooky silenced him by shooting him in the head and the officer's brains blew everywhere and when the blood,, skull fragments and gray matter finished raining, there was no resemblance he had ever been a human being as his head was mush. Delores got to her feet and fired her AK-74 and hit the redhead cop with rounds in the chest and the stomach. The woman fell back wounded but still was managing to fight back.

She fired her pistol with one hand and grazed Delores's face with a round which luckily did not do much more than nick her. She fired again and hit Delores in the left hip. Delores put seven rounds in the lady's shooting arm including her funny bone. The woman dropped her pistol and turned to the side and breathed harshly until her last breath.

There was still one Trucha who was shooting it out with the cops. Peewee started to go the other way when he saw the cops and the Truchas. Delores put her bandanna over her face so as to not give the officers she might encounter too much more to go on. The wounded Triad, Chan, had survived and he was about to try to shoot Delores but she unloaded her remaining mag on his face. He went down, his broken teeth jutting out of the broken skull as his leaking face smacked against the ground.

Just then, a helicopter showed up. "Goddamn it!" Delores shouted. "They've got a chopper!" Rivera, who had lost all of his bodyguards, assured her, "Stay calm, seniorita. That is my best bodyguard, Diego coming to help us. Tell your friends to get in the truck, you and your amigos will ride in the chopper with me. As for he backup your friends called, I cannot guarantee they will make it."

Pablo heard this and ran to tell them what the deal was. The TW's insisted they could get away on their own. Little Spitz said, "Hey, I appreciate the help! I'll see you back in the neighborhood, compas!" They got back into their Savannah and decided to smash on through the squad cars barricading. Payasa told Delores, "Hey it was good seeing you again. Talk to you soon, yeah?" La Rana nodded at Delores. "Take care, all right?"

The wounded Vago got in the vehicle too. Pablo said, "Yo Frog! Don't forget Peewee!" Frog nodded. "Horale! You know I aint gonna leave the carnalito behind!" Peewee, meanwhile, saw the bloody mess of the dead officers against their own squad cars. He wondered what had happened to the MT? Just then, he heard a shotgun being pumped. He turned around and saw his own cousin, a member of the Truchas, who was at least a head taller than him a couple years older.

"Peewee...They want me to kill you, man. I oughta do it too! Show I'm down for the barrio," Peewee's mouth hung open as he held his pistl in hand but didn't think he could shoot his own primo. "Pero yo no voy a hacerlo. Somos una familia. Así que salir de aquí! No voy a matar a sangre, pero no puedo dejar a los demás de disparo," (**But I'm not going to. We're family. Just get out of here! I won't kill blood but I can't stop the others from shooting. )**

Peewee breathed a sigh of relief, "Gracias hermano.," (**Thank you brother.)**

He took off to regroup with his own homeboys. Chino, who had taken some shots himself, fired at the car as he got into it. The Tiny Winos drove off and kept their heads down while Frog fired his pistol back at Chino out of the window. Delores boarded the chopper, as did Spooky, Little Spitz and Pablo. Rivera's guard, a Colombian man with darker skin than Rivera, and a short crew cut, dressed in a fancy black suit, was the pilot while Rivera co-piloted. Piernas would be driving the truck to get back to lockup.

Rivera gave Delores some ammunition to cover them as the cops would not make it easy. As they flew overheard they waited for Piernas to get out of the car park. He stopped by the toll booth where the operator was and pointed his Uzi out the window and emptied the remaining twenty one rounds into the lady. "That's for calling the cops, bitch!"

The police were deep, after them with at least five squad cars and they were all gunning for Piernas. Delores unloaded a storm of rounds on their heads and she took out two cops instantly with rounds to the head. She hit three others in the abdomen and had either wounded or killed them. She fired again aiming for the gas tank of a police car. It went up with a boom as expected. They had SWAT vans after them now and a couple of SWAT members dressed in body armor fired at Delores from the ground.

Rivera turned the radio to Radio X and the song One In A Million by Guns N Roses played.

It was far enough away that the rounds that did hit her did not do much damage though she figured she might feel it later and she would need to make sure she did not have any internal damage to any organs. She fired hitting one of the ones that shot her and for the most part their body armor protected them too. She fired aiming for their heads and hit one of them in the helmet and blew out the front of his forehead.

The other she hit more. The pig took more rounds in the abdomen but she swept the rounds down to his left shin bone. Rivera handed her some grenades as she rode on the outside of it. She pulled the pin on one and lobbed it at three SWAT vans which had barricaded the path trying to box Gabriel in. The blast caused two vans to catch fire and they both exploded while the other was tipped over and began to catch fire itself. Gabriel smashed through the barricade. She reloaded her Assault Rifle.

She unloaded as cops with handguns and shotguns attempted to go after the van on foot. She hit one female officer with blonde hair in the head and even from where she was, Delores could see the blood spraying from her had a one hundred round drum magazine in this time. She aimed, firing at a male cop of Mexican American descent armed with a shotgun, her rounds easily getting through his vest as it was not as protective as hers or the kind the SWAT teams had on. She rained down fire on three squad cars still attempting to follow Piernas.

"Estos polla cabezas! No dé siempre para arriba!" Screamed Rivera as they drove above. **(These dick heads! They don't ever give up!) **Diego, Rivera's bodyguard remarked, "Señor, con todo el respeto que hicimos matar a algunos de sus hombres. Pude ver por qué iban a estar enojado. Esto no es como volver a casa. Los carteles no controlan a la policía en este país. Por lo menos no tan descaradamente como lo hicieron en Colombia," He had to shout over the helicopter blades.

**(Sir, with all due respect we did kill some of their men. I could see why they would be angry. This is not like back home. The cartels don't control the police in this country. At least not as blatantly as they did in Columbia.)**

Rivera snapped. "No le pregunté su opinión, Diego! No importa si estamos en Colombia o Estados Unidos, pero especialmente en Estados Unidos, es importante recordar que cada hombre tiene su precio! Incluso estos policías perros se enferman de nosotros!"

**(I did not ask your opinion, Diego! It does not matter if we are in Columbia or America but especially in America, it is important to remember that every man has his price! Even these police dogs they sick on us!)**

Delores shot the driver of one squad car and wounded the passenger. There was another barricade coming but this time it was just two vans and a couple squad cars. "Go around! We need to get there and cover the driver before they kill him!"

Delores fired at the barricade and hit two officers, merely wounding but not killing them. One of the SWAT team members opened fire on Piernas with an MP5. He had fired through the windshield. Delores focused on him and lit him up, firing twenty rounds into the man. The first ten did not go through the armor but as she kept at it, the next ten did. He fell down in the street his MP5 still discharging even as he fell.

Rivera yelled to Delores, "Check to see if your friend is still alive!" The truck slowly began to move but not as fast as before. "Yeah he's alive but I think he's hit!" She shouted. "We need to get this shit off the street quick!"

Little Spitz began texting Piernas inside the chopper. "I'm on it!" He yelled. "I just told him to head to the Pay N Spray near sixth street! We gotta keep these pigs focused on us so that they let him get away!"

Delores saw him ram his way through the barricade and he ran over a police officer. They continued to follow so Delores pulled the pin on two grenades this time and chucked them down at the convoy of police cars. This caused a chain reaction of explosions. They circled around the remaining cops who were still firing but this time up at Delores their enemy in the sky.

Piernas called Spooky on his cell phone and after a quick conversation he said, "That was Gabe! He managed to shake the chotas but they're still on our ass! He sad N.O.O.S.E might be after us. They considers us terrorists so we really need to get the fuck out of here! He's almost to the Pay N Spray he said he'd be taking back alleys and he'll call us when he's there!"

They brought the chopper around and they saw more cops coming. There was also a helicopter coming who she assumed was that of the L.S.P.D. Delores saw then that it was an Annihilator. She fired her AK at them as she saw that the thing had Mini Guns and could fire missiles. They fired a missile which Rivera barely managed to get them out of the way of. Delores opened fire on the cockpit. She saw that she had hit the pilots and the thing began to swerve and spiral out of control.\

However it was not without consequences as it had fired rounds from the Mini Gun too and had hit their chopper. They had damaged what Delores suspected was the engine. The attack chopper fell below to the streets and exploded in a fiery blaze and took several police and SWAT vans with them in its contagious inferno.

They flew away, and Rivera seemed convinced they had shaken the police. A cell phone rang and Spooky picked up the phone. He was off the phone in two minutes. "Oye, that was Piernas. He was hit by automatic rounds but he's still alive. He thinks he took five rounds. I don't think he'd be alive if he hadn't been smoking that primo and doing rails. He's getting the truck resprayed and he'll be done in six hours, bro. He wants to know where he should meet you?"

Rivera shouted back, "Tell him to drive to our home in the Vinewood Hills! Give me your phone I will text him the address."

Rivera asked his pilot and bodyguard, "Diego! Can you get this piece of shit back to our heliport? Later on, I will want you to get rid of it but for now we will relax. Delores, Spooky, Pablo, Roberto! It is a success in itself that we will live, no? You must join me and Diego at my casa for cocktails. This calls for a celebration! To life and wealth!"

Delores felt nothing but tired. Pablo looked tired too but he also looked sad. Just as she knew, the act of killing the man who had killed Junior had done nothing to stop him from feeling like shit.

_Thirteen Hours Later._

She got a cell phone call from Bullet. She was running herself a bath. She was used to showers but a bath was something she hadn't heard in a while. She put it on speaker. "Hello?"

He greeted her warmly. "Hey, whats up girl? What you doing with your fine ass?" Delores rolled her eyes. "Is that your usual pickup lines you use on women? Might work at swap meets but it aint gonna work on a real woman. Anyway, what's up?"

Bullet laughed. "Aight! I was just fucking with you anyway. No need to get all nasty! Anyway, I kind of need to ask a favor. You remember how me and my boys helped back ya'll up with the Triads and shit? We lost one of our own, man and he was down for whatever but I just wanna know it was worth something. I mean, I know we're trying to start a shaky truce and all but maybe it would be good to also make it a partnership in business too?"

Delores didn't follow. "You got something you wanna say, spit it out. I'm very tired," He continued "Well, I know we were protecting a smack shipment and that all fell to shit right? Well Spooky had told me what that was all about. I aint seen that dude in a long time till recently but I do call him every now and then to see how he is. Anyway that thing with the MT's and Triads being in on jacking your shipment? Was wondering if we could get in on that?"

Delores sighed. "I don't know, man. I wish I could say yeah, but I don't think that's my call to make. I can maybe talk to Smiley and Mr. Rivera. I mean that is technically our blow, every single key so then again maybe I don't need to ask his permission. Anyway, if you Rollers do get in on this shit, probably the most we can promise is ten keys. Since we have put in more time and effort toward getting it back."

He was silent but only a moment. "Ten,huh? Well that's still better than nothing! I can dig it. Let me talk to the homies and think what they see on it. And yeah, we're in the game with White Girl, why would you think we aint down to hustle for scrilla?"

She admitted, "Because back in the day, you all used to be anti yayo. Back when you were under a different name and management," Bullet addressed that saying, "Look yeah, ol' cuz was down for his hood and all but we all can't be millionaires and managers for rappers you know? Besides, the task force came through not too long ago in the hood so shit has been slow on the block and these niggas are sluffing."

Delores yawned. "Okay. I'll see what I can do but I gotta get back to you on that, all right? I'll give you a buzz when I have a better more for sure answer. I gotta go for now."

Bullet said, "All right then. Good night. Just don't leave us hanging, okay? Times are hard and we maybe deep with numbers but the less we're active the easier it is for our enemies to ride on us, ya know?"

She hung up. She felt like going to sleep there in the tub but knew she could drown if she did so she bathed and got out, then got into her PJ's and collapsed on the bed. Her last thought as she drifted off, was that she needed to find a way to get Pablo to forgive her.

She didn't know where he was at the moment. He had gotten his arm patched up but now that he was pissed at her, he was couch hopping and likely running the streets. She hoped that neither Pac Man nor Alonso Tenpenny would get a hold of him. She said a slight prayer as she fell asleep. She didn't know if there was a God or not. She just thought to herself, _Mama, if you're still out there, living on some how, watch out for him. _

* * *

_Ok so that's all for this chapter, people! I'm making this chapter shorter than before it'll be easier to get back on it if i do. I just wanted to post it up even if I don't like how little the content may have been. So first off, Pac Man, is a character in the gang/cop movie Colors, a crooked white police officer portrayed by Sean Penn. Known as Pac Man because he is a C.R.A.S.H officer and he drives a yellow car, IE Pac Man. _

_Alonso Tenpenny is supposed to be a younger sibling to Frank Tenpenny and a reference to Denzel's character in Training Day who i believe is somewhat who inspired Frank Tenpenny so I thought I'd bring that back full circle. As for the introduced characters Payasa is Spanish for clown, in reference to face paint and make up. Some cholas, not all but some wear too much makeup. _

_Young Blood and that whole scene with him, is meant to be like how in Saints Row they show the view point of your enemies. He is portrayed by Cle Sloan, a veteran Blood from the movie Crips and Bloods Bastards Of The Party he was also one of the slobs in the movie Training Day and Baldwin Aldea, is the housing projects that i replicated that is based on that project Baldwin Village AKA the Jungle. _

_Dairy Swirl is meant to be a parody of Dairy Queen, and a sexual innuendo "When a male orgasm's onto a woman's vagina and then proceeds to insert his penis back into the vagina and swirl it around" A burger ring, is my own other sexual pun for a DQ version of a Rodeo cheeseburger but on urban dictionary a burger ring refers to the hair on a male gingers asshole. A strawberry digger is a spoof of their ice cream sundae and refers to a man who goes down on a girl during that time of the month. _

_The chocolate sundae which Delores ordered the Fudge g00d Sundae. As follows. _

_The real deal, the ultimate saying when a girl get's off after having anal._

_"That was Fudge G00d!" Cynthia screamed! _

S_o hooray for ass play! Lol. Also a Meat Whip is when a man slaps a woman's vagina with his dick. _

_Ok, so now onto Helgada, he is isually inspired by Kid Frost and based on him. Cerco Blanco is the Spanish name for White Fence Barrio, the oldest Sureno cliqua (Gang) in L.A. been around since 25'. The White Fence refers to fter the white picket fence that surrounded La Purissima Church. At a time where racism plagued the area, the name Fence could also be interpreted as a symbolic barrier between the white residents in the area and the Mexican residents of the neighborhood._

_An example of this would be the Zoot Suit Riots, of 1943. This was when white sailors and other servicemen began attacking and raping Mexicans for wearing Zoot Suits which they considered "Unpatriotic in a time of war" they even raped many Mexican women in front of their boyfriends while holding them down and making them watch as seen in American Me. _

_White Fence was one of the main gangs to riot and fight back against white attackers. Any how the Zoot Suit/Pachuco style influenced the cholo style today which in turn influenced West Coast/Gangsta rap groups like NWA. _

_Oh, also, Frog is based on Leo Lopez, another character from Colors, a cholo from 21st street. I figure 18th street, 21st, close enough right?_

_So yeah i did take Stelm's advice and at least portray Delore and Peaches as having some fun but i saw no point in just having that be all that happens in the chapter like say Metal Harpinger would it may work for him but not me. In any case some of the conversations they had, reflects how in GTA IV, though having a friend activity, sometimes conversations were pretty deep like with Niko and Dwayne or Niko and Packie. _

_Roman too on occasion. Oh shit one other thing the character Chino is based on a character from American Me of the same name who was a member of La Eme, (La Onda in this) which was kinda funny to me cause I have heard Asians try to talk in Ebonics but never heard them talk like a cholo so it was funny to me in this one scene he has to kill a gang member named Pie Face and shank him while he's lifting weights and he goes "Close your eyes, Vato" lol_

_But i guess there were guys like that back in the day that were bi racial in the original La Eme. I think there was even one who was Black and Native what we call maroon, as shown by Popeye in Blood In Blood Out but the difference is, he wouldn't be viewed in the same regard as a US born black as he was from Panama. Though many African slaves were brought to South and Central America they aren't the majority but it is a different culture in those respective countries than what you would see here so yeah, one from Panama or somewhere like that would be more easily accepted. _

_Also Litefoot, for those who don't know, is a Native American rapper, and possibly who i would have visually inspire my main character if i ever get Sunbelt City uploaded. LF is Chichimeca and Cherokee one Mexican tribe one US tribe. Equalling one full blooded brother. All his music is amazing and he can act too. _

_He rapped with Kid Frost that's the only associated act I can reference. _

_That song Dedicated by him is about this song he dedicated to this little sister who was a fan of his named Erin who died and he had met her before she did die and then heard about it later. Very good song I suggest checking it out. _

_Oh and also, the term La Jura is another slang for the police. And when you say Pinche Mamon that means fucking sucker._

_Oh and Jean Tammany is a spoof of Sean Hannity if you know who he is, and obviously Alan Holmes is Alan Colmes. _

_I tried to make Delores have many flaws, and be somewhat hypocritical in telling Pablo he ought to not bang but still try to make her as likable and relevant as I can. That shooting between Pablo and the guy that shot Juni, that was sort of inspired by a scene from the new series Bates Motel. _

_All right so that's alll she fricking wrote! Enjoy! _


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